An Eye for An Eye
by Malley
Summary: *SPOILERS FOR FNaF: SL* William Afton wasn't always a murderer. In fact, he was once a loving family man and businessman. A little boy and a little girl; because of them, William makes it his mission to destroy the very monstrosity he created: Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. But has the murderer met his match in Freddy Fazbear's?
1. Once was Enough

**DISCLAIMER : I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters. **Nope. Just a ton of merchandise.

A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you all have been having fun with Sister Location! Speaking of which, there was a lot of good material in that game, so I just had to put a story together :)

Obviously, the timeline of events in FNaF is in no way concrete, especially working off of both the games and the book from Scott (as well as some of the theories from the FNaF wiki), so I used some creative liberty on the facts that we do know for certain. Plus, the speculation into the lore of the game is part of the fun! Seriously, my sister and I had a full on debate the other night about the FNaF timeline and some of the plot points, which was really fun, sadly.

That being said, this story will touch upon several of the key events that occurred throughout the series, some of which may be canon in the game but not in the book and vice versa. Please note that the events in the story may not match up exactly with what we believe we know, so please, no flames or scathing reviews or PMs just to bash my version of events. Just have fun with it and enjoy a different take on the FNaF lore and story-I know I did :)

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If you're here, then you are aware that there WILL BE SPOILERS for SISTER LOCATION, but I shall reiterate:  
***SPOILERS FOR SISTER LOCATION***

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 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE**

Chapter 1: Once was Enough

 _"Daddy, you let the other children go see her, why won't you let me?"_

 _"Daddy, just once let me go play with her. She's so pretty and shiny..."_

 _"Didn't you make her just for me?"_

 _Because...because..._

 _Because it's dangerous..._

 _Because you might get hurt..._

 _Because I can't lose you too..._

 _Because you are all I have left..._

 _Because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too..._

William let out a slow breath as he sat down on the side of the bed. He remained silent, his mind swirling with millions of thoughts, none of which, he was certain, would be a satisfactory response to the question that had been posed to him gauging by the shimmery celadon green eyes that stared intently at him, demanding answers.

"How about we read a bedtime story instead?" William offered, hoping to change the subject, a strategy that had worked successfully on many a night before.

The six year old blonde girl wrapped up beneath the frilly pink comforter blanket in her princess themed bedroom eyed her father, a little pout forming on her sweet little face. Her expression indicated to William that she'd grown wise of his diversion tactic, though that wasn't entirely a surprise, as the charade had kind of become a nightly ritual for the two. After tucking her in for the night, she would proceed to talk about _it_ (presumably having heard her classmates at school discussing the subject, as William refused to talk about anything of that nature at home if possible) and he would cleverly-at least, he thought he was being clever-change the subject to something else. William honestly thought she'd forget about it or move on within a couple of days, but, much to his chagrin, she persisted night after night.

His daughter was his whole world now; each night he had to disappoint her hurt him deeply. But he had to protect her. He couldn't let anything happen to her. He couldn't let anything happen again. William wasn't sure he would be able to keep sane if anything happened again. Once was more than enough.

His daughter, Elyse, had been no more than a year old when the tragedy happened, so it's no surprise that she wouldn't remember anything from that day. William himself wasn't even aware of what was going on until it was too late and the damage had already been done...

He slammed his eyes shut, trying to block out the images that were flashing before his eyes, egregious remnants of that terrible day. They were still as vivid now as they were then, and still as painful, like rubbing salt into a freshly opened wound. William hadn't realized how much time had passed as he wrestled with his inner demons until he felt a little hand shaking his shoulder.

"Daddy?"

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times, and found his daughter watching him, an intent look on her face.

"Daddy? Are you okay?" Elyse asked again.

William cleared his throat, taking a moment to try and reign in his emotions before they spiraled out of control and he lost it.

"Yeah, I'm okay, princess," he tried to reassure her (and himself, too).

"Daddy, we should go and see _her_ ," Elyse attempted to reassure her father in turn. "She could make you a balloon animal! That would make you feel better, wouldn't it, Daddy? Wouldn't that be fun?"

The edges of his lips curled upward in a small but sad smile and he directed his eyes to the heavens above. _She certainly got your tenacity, my dear; something I'm sure you'd be proud of._ William sighed and turned his attention back to Elyse.

"So, can we go and see her, Daddy?" she asked as he tucked her back into bed.

"Maybe one day," William replied as he placed a goodnight kiss on his daughter's forehead.

He'd barely made it a few steps away from the bed when Elyse's little voice spoke out again:

"When, Daddy? When will we get to see her?"

William paused in the doorway, his hand on the light switch.

 _Never._

"Someday soon, princess," he said instead.

Elyse seemed placated (for this evening, at least) by this answer, as she snuggled into her pillow, a Funtime Foxy plush tucked beneath her arm. William shut off the light, leaving the room to be bathed in a soft lilac colored starry nightlight, reminiscent of the curtains at Pirate Cove. Without another word, he quietly stepped out of Elyse's room, closing the door behind him.

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. There will be much more to come! Reviews are much appreciated in the meantime :)

Remember the golden rule of reviewing: review for others how you would want your own stories to be reviewed (in other words, no flames or insults just for the sake of them).


	2. The Happiest Day Interlude-Part I

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

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 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE**

 _The 'Happiest' Day Interlude: Part I_

 _Screaming. Lots and lots of screaming. First in delight, then, suddenly, in horror._

 _Tears followed. So many tears. Frantic, terrified tears._

 _"Mr. Afton, come quickly!"_

 _"What's going on? Is everyone all right?"_

 _"No...there's been an incident..."_

 _"What happened?"_

 _"There's no time to explain, Sir. Please, you just need to come with me!"_

 _Handing baby Elyse off to a family member for safekeeping, William hurried after the employee, following him into the adjoining performance room. He peered through the jungle of streamers and balloons in the direction of the stage. What he saw when his eyes settled on that area made his heart stop and his blood run cold._

 _"No...no...no...this can't be!"_

 _William frantically rushed forward, pushing and shoving his way through the crowd. Up at the front of the room, just before the stage, was a pale, shaken and visibly frightened boy, wild sobs racking his small frame. A Foxy mask was pushed up and resting atop his mop of dark brown-almost black hair. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest. With a tear stained face and swollen, red eyes, he looked up at William, who knelt down in front of him._

 _"It...it was an accident...I...didn't mean it...I'm so sorry..."_

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Reviews are most appreciated :)


	3. So Many Memories

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE**

 _Chapter 2: So Many Memories_

A rum and coke in one hand, William sat in the maroon armchair in his living room. The room was pretty dark, the only light coming from the lamp on the end table sitting to the left of the chair, and the only sounds in the quiet house coming from the soft chimes of the grandfather clock in the northeast corner of the room as it struck midnight. William took a swig of his drink and flipped to the next page of the photo album resting on his lap.

So many memories; memories of a happier time. Memories of a time before the incident occurred and his world was forever changed.

William stopped at a family photo, one from before Elyse was born and even before he'd met the girl's mother. He gently touched the photograph, a sad smile appearing on his lips as he looked down at the people in the picture. It was years ago, before the divorce. Things hadn't begun to fall apart yet. In fact, things were quite content and even looking up.

Fazbear Entertainment had been at the height of its popularity, with parties and events booked months in advance. With business booming, the money was certainly flowing. William had been able to move his wife and two sons into a brand new home, one that had a swimming pool and a large backyard that the boys were looking forward to playing around in. However, at the same time, the tremendous increase in business also meant that he was practically living at the pizzeria. That, in turn, made for some discord at home.

 _"I know business is important, but don't you know that your family needs you? Your boys need you? I need you?"_

Of course he knew, but, like most young people, William thought himself invincible and able to conquer anything that came his way. He lived under this false pretense for some time, only acknowledging that he was, in fact, human and fallible, when he came home one evening to find his wife and sons gone. The only thing that remained was a note, telling him that they were staying with her family for now and that she'd be willing to discuss their future together if they attended counseling. Of course, William was stubborn and a right-fighter, something that served him well in business but not so much on a personal level, so, of course, once the break in the relationship occurred, it was pretty much already beyond the point of repair. The divorce was finalized not long afterward and, unsurprisingly, his wife was granted custody of the two boys, aged 6 and 2 respectively.

While he would always love his ex-wife because she was the mother of his two boys, William finally found true love shortly after the divorce. They met at a Fazbear Entertainment company holiday party, with she being the friend of an employee that worked at one of the pizzerias. They hit it off immediately and were in a steady relationship soon after and were married shortly after that. They knew it was meant to be.

However, as it often does, life had other plans. The news from the doctor was a double edged sword; there were tears of happiness and of sadness when it was discovered that they were expecting, but that completely altered the medical treatments for her illness. The moment she found out about Elyse, she instantly halted all of her treatments and therapies. William couldn't argue because he knew that was what she wanted: to be a mom. Elyse was born months later, healthy and perfect. The months without her medical treatments took its toll on Elyse's mother and she passed away shortly after their precious angel entered the world. Elyse became his world from that moment on.

"Daddy?" a sleepy little voice asked from behind the chair.

William turned to look around the top of the armchair and found Elyse, Funtime Foxy plush in hand, standing in the living room doorway, her blonde pigtails mussed up from sleep.

"Hey, princess, what are you doing up?" he asked, putting his drink aside on the end table.

"I was thirsty," Elyse explained.

William fetched a glass of warm milk for Elyse and then pulled the little girl up on his lap to hold her until she fell back to sleep.

"Do you remember your brothers?" he asked as he flipped to the next page of the photo album.

Elyse turned her attention to the pictures.

"I know Mikey," she said, pointing to one of the photos.

"How about this little boy? Do you remember him?" William put his finger on a six year old boy in a black and grey striped shirt and blue jeans shorts.

Elyse studied the boy for a few moments before shaking her head.

"That's your other brother. His name was Lukas,"

"Where is he? Does he live with Mikey and his mommy?"

"No, sweetie. Lukas is up in heaven with your mommy," William said softly, gently.

Elyse nodded and then resumed looking at the photos.

"Daddy, look, there's Freddy! And Foxy!" she pointed at the picture excitedly.

"I see, sweetie. That was a picture from your brother's birthday party,"

Elyse turned to look at William, her green eyes peering deep into his.

"Daddy, how come Mikey and Lukas got to have a birthday party with Freddy and Foxy?" she questioned. "Why can't I go see Baby, Ballora and Freddy and Foxy?"

Well shit. She had him there.

"You're too smart and cute for your own good, you know that?" William sighed.

What happened with Lukas was just a fluke. A pure, unintentional, freak accident. It wasn't like anything happened to the hundreds of children William saw on a daily basis at the various locations owned by Fazbear Entertainment...Maybe he could take her to see the gang after all.

"You really want to go see them, don't you?" William said as more of a statement rather than a question.

Elyse nodded eagerly.

"...All right," he relented. "We'll go see them tomorrow."

The little girl happily hugged her father before skipping off to bed so that she could go to sleep because the faster she went back to bed, the faster it would be tomorrow and the faster she would be able to finally see Baby, Ballora, Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy.


	4. The Happiest Day Interlude-Part II

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **A/N:** I've been super busy with work and the holidays, so I haven't had a chance to properly say thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/favorite/followed this story. I usually reply to my reviews but haven't had a chance to, so, please forgive me and accept this little author's note as a hearty "THANKS!" It's much appreciated :)

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 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE**

 _The 'Happiest' Day Interlude: Part II_

 _"What happened?!" William demanded frantically._

 _He placed both hands on the shaking shoulders of his son. The boy was still too hysterical to speak coherently beyond a few words._

 _"Michael, calm down," William instructed, trying to keep his own voice under control as to not further distress his son. "And tell me what happened."_

 _"We...we were playing with...with Lukas..." Michael managed to sputter out through broken sobs. "...And..."_

 _The words failed him at this point, so Michael, instead, with a trembling hand, pointed behind him. William's eyes followed the direction in which the boy pointed and found himself looking up at Fredbear. While that normally wouldn't have been a problem, there was something different about this Fredbear that caused William tremendous worry and alarm. The mouth of the golden bear animatronic was stained with fresh red blood._

 _"Lukas!"_

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Remember the golden rule of reviewing: review for others how you would want your own stories to be reviewed (in other words, no flames or insults just for the sake of them).


	5. History Repeats Itself

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.** But I did get a bunch of FNaF stuff for Christmas...

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _Chapter 3: History Repeats Itself_

The next morning, William decided to skip breakfast, finding his stomach flip flopping more than Ballora and the Minireenas during their dance routine. He was dreading this morning ever since he made the promise (out of guilt) to Elyse last night while they were looking through the photo album. Elyse, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She could hardly sit still, practically bouncing in her seat while eating her Freddy-O's for breakfast.

William purposely took the long route to Circus Baby's Pizza World, silently wishing he had enough gas in his car to just drive around all day and not have to stop at the establishment. Unfortunately, that was not the case and, even if it was, William knew that he would just have to take Elyse to the restaurant on another day. That thought in mind, he pulled the vehicle into his designated parking space in the Circus Baby parking lot.

Taking Elyse's hand into his, William headed into the building. It was just before noon by the time they arrived, but there was still plenty of people present and tons of children running around, having a grand old time.

"Hi Mr. Afton," one of the employees greeted. "Oh my! This must be the famous little Elyse! It's great to meet you, sweetie!"

Elyse grinned at the employee, putting her two missing front teeth on display in an extremely adorable fashion.

"I'm here to see Baby and Ballora and Freddy and Foxy!" she proclaimed happily.

"Well, you have certainly come to the right place!"

The employee looked up at William and then whispered:

"Since Baby's completed all her test runs, do you want to make her debut today, you know, to mark the special occasion?"

William mulled over this option for a few moments. Despite this sister location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza being called Circus Baby's Pizza World, Circus Baby (aka Baby) hadn't done any main stage performances like Ballora or the Funtime characters. Sure, she was around for the kids to see and play with, as Elyse many a time reminded him how Baby would make balloon animals and such for everyone, but Baby did not have her own show. William's business partner, Henry, did design her with voice box technology and constructed her with a microphone in her hand, so Baby was, essentially, built to perform. If Elyse was only going to be allowed into a Fazbear Entertainment establishment once, why not make it a memorable one?

"Hey, why not?" William said with a nod. "Henry said he got all the kinks in the system out, so let's give her a shot."

"On it!" the employee departed from the entryway to pass on the message to prepare Baby for her maiden voyage.

After the employee left, Elyse tugged on her father's hand.

"Daddy, can I go play?" she asked.

William opened his mouth to respond, but paused when he heard his cell phone ringing. Digging the mobile phone out of his pants pocket, he answered it.

"Hello?"

It was his ex, calling to discuss the arrangements for his upcoming weekend with his son Michael. As much as William didn't want to let Elyse out of his sight, he didn't want to jeopardize his time with his son, which, following the incident with Lukas, was far and few between.

"Go play, sweetie," William whispered to Elyse. "But, please, please, please, be careful."

The words were barely out of his mouth and his daughter was off like a shot from one of the prop pistols in the Foxy the Pirate's Swashbuckling Adventure show at Freddy's. With the cacophony of noise commencing around him, William slipped through the building and headed into his office to speak with his ex.

Elyse visited the various party rooms throughout the establishment. She eventually found her way inside a small room that had a few tables set up and was decorated with balloons of various colors. There were a few other children in the room with her and Elyse wormed her way through them to the front of the room. There was a small stage toward the left most wall of the room. It was brightly decorated and covered in glitter, which twinkled and cast rainbows across the room when the overhead stage lights struck at just the right angle.

Some of the kids in the room ran out, with new ones running in. This process repeated, the number of kids present consistently fluctuating. Elyse, however, stayed put, watching with delight as Baby performed on stage for the first time. She was signing some songs that had been performed during the Fredbear and Friends television show. The kids who stayed put long enough to hear the songs (which was quite a feat with all of the screaming, yelling and laughing going on at the same time in the room) sang along with Baby.

The room eventually cleared out after Baby's last song, with most of the kids leaving to go and watch the show in Funtime Auditorium. Elyse stayed behind. Somewhat timidly, she took a couple of steps forward. She wanted to ask Baby to make her some balloons, one for her and one for her daddy.

Baby's mechanics and motor began humming, though it was not entirely audible over the music floating in from the show in Funtime Auditorium down the hall. It wasn't the same sound as when she was preparing to sing another song; it was something different. Suddenly, seemingly surprising both Elyse and the animatronic itself, Baby's chest plate opened. Elyse, who had momentarily recoiled from surprise, relaxed and peered forward, curious as to what was in the animatronic. Much to her delight, it was ice cream!

"I have made ice cream for you," Baby's voice spoke to Elyse.

Elyse smiled and slowly came forward. She did love ice cream and it was so cool that the animatronic had made some just for her! She couldn't wait to tell her daddy!

"I cannot reach you," Baby told the young girl. "Please, come forward so I can give you the ice cream."

Elyse did what Baby asked and took another couple of steps forward...

...The children that rushed into the room moments later were none the wiser of what had just transpired mere seconds ago. They could not hear the screams, nor could they see the blood dripping out from the chest cavity of the robot clown...

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Remember the golden rule of reviewing: review for others how you would want your own stories to be reviewed (in other words, no flames or insults just for the sake of them).


	6. The Happiest Day Interlude-Part III

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _The 'Happiest' Day Interlude: Part III_

 _"No...no...Lukas!" William cried._

 _Just beyond the stage, slightly off to the side, were some adults. They were all huddled around...something._

 _"Scott!" William raced over to the man in purple, whose back was to him._

 _Freddy Fazbear's security guard, Scott Cawthon, turned his head to look up and over his shoulder at his boss. The look on the face of the worried father behind him was heart wrenching and it made his already haywire emotions even more unstable._

 _"I...I got him...out, Sir," Scott explained quietly._

 _Moving his hands nervously as he spoke, William noticed that a few of the young blond man's fingers were purple, swollen and bloody. No doubt, the fingers were broken, but Scott probably didn't feel the pain radiating from them due to the adrenaline coursing through his body._

 _"We...we've already called an ambulance," Scott continued. "They're...they're on the way..."_

 _"I need to see him, Scott," William said. "Please, let me see him."_

 _Scott reluctantly moved aside, allowing William to see his youngest son._


	7. Changes

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _Chapter 4: Changes_

In the days and weeks following the tragedy at Circus Baby's Pizza World, many changes were implemented. The mechanics and night workers were given a new tool to work with when dealing with the animatronics after hours: an electric shock. Circus Baby, despite being the titular character of the sister location of the Freddy Fazbear's line, was immediately banned from performing again. Ever again. But perhaps the biggest change manifested itself in William Afton.

It was no secret that the man blamed himself for what happened to his daughter. He'd never even had a chance to get over what happened to his son barely even five years ago when this new tragedy occurred. To make matters even worse, while he knew what happened with Lukas, William hardly knew what happened with Elyse. There were so many unanswered questions that weighed heavily on his mind and his heart.

The outpouring of support from family and friends was touching, but it did nothing to ease the immense pain William felt every moment of every day. He tried to bury himself in his work, but that didn't help. The employees, and even some of the visiting families, would often stop by his office, where he had barricaded himself to hide from the world, to check on him and see if he needed anything. It was out of the goodness of their hearts that they did so, but it only served to upset William further. Nothing anyone could do could fix what happened.

Everyone eventually got the hint that William had no desire to deal with anyone at present and left him to his own devices. However, that didn't mean that the whispers and comments didn't make it back to him.

 _The poor guy..._

 _First his son, now his daughter..._

 _I wish we could do something for him..._

 _Should we be afraid to let our kids spend time here?_

 _He's handling himself better than anyone thought, but it's only a matter of time until the guy snaps..._

Until he snaps...snaps...snapping...snapped...

Unfortunately for all, that moment was closer than anyone believed.


	8. The Happiest Day Interlude-Part IV

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _The 'Happiest' Day Interlude: Part IV_

 _...Beep..._

 _...Beep..._

 _...Beep..._

 _The heart monitors were the most beautiful sound in the world at present to William. Sitting by Lukas' bedside, he held the cold little hand of his son. William's eyes were wide and bloodshot; he cried his tear ducts dry and he hadn't slept in days. Sure, he and Lukas' mother rotated shifts keeping a bedside vigil over the little boy so that the other could get some rest or food and clean themselves up a little, but the moment William closed his eyes, he saw the bloody mess of his son's body on the floor at the pizzeria..._

 _Not to mention that the breaks his ex and he allowed themselves were very long, besides getting in some time to spend with Elyse, who was in the care of some relatives at the moment; Michael had an emotional breakdown after seeing what happened to his younger brother. He was taken to the hospital as well and was sedated for days until he could regain some semblance of control over himself. After that, he'd been placed in intensive in-patient therapy to help him recover from the trauma. William and his ex essentially high-fived each other as they ran back and forth from one end of the hospital to the other in a tag team effort, checking in on their children._

 _While Michael was gradually making process, Lukas was not. The child was in a coma, the bite from the steel jaws of Fredbear greatly damaging his skull and brain. From the doctor's viewpoint, it was a miracle that Lukas was still alive (with his catatonic state being considered a medical miracle), especially stating that the boy's frontal lobe was gravely injured and portions of it had to be surgically removed._

 _To make matters worse and add additional stress, some blabbermouth from the day of the incident reported the happening to the media. The television in Lukas' hospital room, which was usually left on for background noise just in case the boy did ever wake up in a rare moment when a parent was not present, would occasionally play a news program and that news broadcast would, of course, talk about what was being called "The Bite of '87."_

 _There was an incredible outpouring of support for little Lukas and for Michael, with the boys' hospital rooms (specifically Lukas') looking more like toy stores than part of a hospital. It was touching, especially when Scott, broken fingers and all from prying open Fredbear's mouth with his bare hands to free Lukas, stopped in to check in on the boys despite recovering from his own injuries._

 _But the damage had been done. Nothing would be the same..._


	9. Nothing Else Matters

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _Chapter 5: Nothing Else Matters_

He needed to get away. Away from all of the people. Away from all of the daily reminders of what had been lost. William packed up his car with some necessities and then began to drive. He didn't know where he was going, nor did he really care; William just knew that he needed to get away, even if just for a little bit.

After a few hours of driving, William eventually found himself in a small blip-on-the-map kind of town called Hurricane. He figured that his subconscious brought him here, wishing desperately to go back to the beginning, back to when things were happy and no tragedies had occurred. Driving on a deserted stretch of dusty, uneven road, William pulled into a parking lot of a little retro looking diner. Back where it all began; Fredbear's Family Diner.

The parking lot was primarily empty, though that was not much of a surprise, stating that there was barely even a few thousand people in the entire town. There was one vehicle, however, resting in a spot on the right side of the building, three spaces in, that William instantly recognized. It was that of his business partner, Henry.

After the success of Fazbear Entertainment skyrocketed overnight, William had moved with his family out to the big city, while Henry and his family remained back in Hurricane. Always kind of a recluse, the small town atmosphere worked better for the engineering genius, so that's where he remained. Henry still continued to work on and design various animatronics, with many of the star characters like Freddy, Foxy and Bonnie, being a result of his mechanical genius (though always readily acknowledging his friend's superior skills, William thought he was able to hold his own in the robotics department). The weakness of one was the strength of the other, so the business partnership worked for the two of them.

A tiny chime tinkled against the door as William entered into the diner. As indicated by the parking lot, the inside of the establishment was pretty empty also. However, William spied the back of a familiar looking head.

"Henry," he said as he walked over to the booth where the man in question was sitting.

Henry glanced up from his sketch book on the table and looked behind him.

"William, hey, welcome," he greeted amiably in his typical quiet manner. "Please, sit down. Do you want anything? Coffee? Soda pop? Water?"

William waved his friend off as he slid into the booth across from him.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," he replied.

Henry closed up his sketch book and put his drawing materials aside.

"How is Michael?" he asked. "How about Elyse?"

William's expression turned grim. Henry instantly sensed this and the fact that something was greatly wrong with his business partner and friend.

"What's wrong?" he asked, genuinely concerned about his friend's welfare.

William balled his hands into fists, his nails digging deeper and deeper into his palms, almost to the point of breaking the skin. But he didn't feel that pain. That pain was nothing compared to the loss of a child, to the loss of two children...two children by the same manner of death...animatronics...animatronics made by his supposed "friend" and business partner...

Having previously turned his head away upon the mention of his late daughter, William slowly turned his attention back to Henry. The latter suddenly felt a chill shoot down his spine.

"Elyse..." William was having great difficulty speaking, his grief and anger overwhelming him.

Somehow, someway, presumably through sheer tenacity and willpower, he informed Henry of Elyse's death. Henry was utterly heartbroken, his despair and pain visibly displayed on his face. But it was not the same pain that William was experiencing; no, the man across from him didn't lose a child. No, in fact, he had two children; twins, Charlie and Sammie. How was that fair? How was it fair that Henry got to have two children when he lost two of his in tragic accidents and the third he got to only see once in a blue moon?

There was an odd feeling that overcame William, one that he couldn't describe even if he had a thesaurus laid out in front of him. It coursed through his veins, reaching every fiber of his being. Whatever the feeling was, it was very powerful and somewhat frightening. William felt the urge to act on this overwhelming feeling, this desire to make things right and fair.

"Will? Are you okay?"

William blinked, his eyes suddenly focusing once again on the man across from him. He'd become completely swept up in the sea of emotions swirling around inside of him.

"Yeah, just fine," William grumbled.

"Listen, if you need anything, I'm here," Henry offered sincerely. "If you want to spend a few days out here with the kids and me, or if you want a hot home cooked meal or something-"

William shook his head.

"What I want you can't give me," he said quietly. "No one can."

 _But at least I can even the score..._

 _I can make you hurt like I do..._

 _I can make all of you hurt like I do..._

 _I don't know what else to do..._

 _Nothing else matters..._

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Did anyone else get the Metallica song, Nothing Else Matters, stuck in their heads? I know I did :)


	10. The Happiest Day Interlude-Part V

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _The Happiest Day Interlude: Part V_

 _The skies were grey and a chilly breeze filtered through the cemetery, carrying the smell of fresh flowers with it. The scent of roses floated around William, but, instead of enjoying the sweet aroma, he loathed it. He looked down at the bouquet of roses in his hands. He shouldn't be at the cemetery, holding the flowers he was going to be placing on the grave of his youngest son. No parent should have to bury their child, yet here he was, doing just that._

 _Staring down at the newly inscribed gravestone, William blinked, trying to make sense of the name written upon the stone: Lukas Schmidt. His mind could not comprehend the words, interpreting them as if they were in a foreign language. Was this really his son's grave? Was he really standing before it? Was his son truly gone?_

 _Clenching his eyes shut, William hoped with all of his might that this was just a terrible, horrible nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment. Counting silently to himself, at the count of three, he forced his eyes open. What he saw when he did so only made him feel worse._

 _He was still at the cemetery, standing in front of Lukas' grave. William's strength began to fail him and he fell to his knees, collapsing in half like a folding chair, the flowers tumbling from his hands._

 _At least he had Elise and Michael. If he lost either of them, he didn't know what he would do._

 _Whatever it was, it would probably shatter him worse than how he felt at this very moment._

 _He never wanted to feel that kind of immense despair ever again._


	11. For the Kids

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 6: For the Kids

William had decided to hang around in Hurricane for the time being, shacking up in a roadside motel instead of taking advantage of Henry's offer to stay in the guest room of his house. It had been a few weeks since the disappearance of little Elyse, with Halloween quickly approaching. In that time, William had left himself go. His appearance was unkempt, with his hair tousled, his face unshaven and his clothes wrinkled and mismatched. Sitting around in his motel room drinking alcohol and eating crappy foods caused him to pack on quite a few pounds as well. When Henry stopped by the motel to check up on his friend one afternoon, he hardly recognized the man staring back at him in the doorway.

"Will-William?" the smaller man frowned, his eyes traveling up and down the body of his friend in utter shock and disbelief.

"What?" William's tone had become gruff and angry, with the pain and despair he felt nearly physically tangible.

He leaned against the frame of the motel room door, a stained and disheveled grey t-shirt and some tattered blue jeans on his widening frame, a beer in one hand. William had prominent bags under his eyes, which were also red and swollen. Henry's heart snapped like a malfunctioning spring lock at the sight of his friend and business partner.

"May, um, I come in?" Henry shifted slightly where he stood, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in this man's presence.

He tried to shake that feeling off. The man in front of him was only a shell of his friend, William. That's probably what scared him. Henry figured the grief and guilt William felt over what happened to both Lukas and Elyse was probably eating away at him, causing his downfall. He wanted to do whatever he could to help his dear friend and business partner to reclaim his life and begin to heal his deep, soul crushing wounds. It's what any good friend would do, right?

William did not respond to Henry's request, instead stepping aside to allow him to enter. Shoving his hands into his pants pockets, Henry entered into the motel room. The room looked no better than William, presumably not having been cleaned in any sense of the word since William moved in a few weeks ago. Food wrappers and beer cans littered the floor and the nightstand next to the bed, the sheets of which were crumpled and messy. Henry scrunched his nose up as a result of the sour smell emanating from something within the room. From the state of the room and its occupant, it was anyone's guess as to what was the source. Henry opted to breathe through his mouth for the time being. He turned around to face William, doing his best to mask his worry and concern.

"I'd ask how you're doing, but..." Henry began to say. "Listen, Will. I'm not going to pretend that I know what you're going through. I don't and I hope that I never have to experience anything so tremendous as the loss of a child. The closest thing I can compare it to would be the loss of my wife. When she died, well, I was utterly destroyed and just wanted to give up. But I didn't. I had Charlie and Sammie to keep me going."

"Yeah. That's great for you," William scoffed before taking a long swig of his beer. "You have two kids. I lost two kids. What the hell do I have left?"

"Michael."

William froze. Henry was right. He did have another son in this world that needed him, especially now that the poor boy lost yet another sibling to those damned animatronics. But he never got to see his firstborn son. After the incident with Lukas, his visits with Michael were few and far between and the recent loss of Elyse probably wasn't going to help the matter in any way. William's face returned to its usual scowl, its common state as of late.

"His mom's never going to let me see him now," William retorted, tossing his now empty beer can aside. "I hardly got to see him after Lukas died and now, it wouldn't surprise me if she got a restraining order against me on his behalf."

"Come on, Will," Henry tried to reassure his friend. "I don't think she would do that. She knows how much you love Michael."

Henry let out a breath, seeing that he was making practically no progress with William. The man was always stubborn and a right-fighter. That's part of what made him a shrewd businessman. However, life was not a business transaction.

"Listen," Henry continued. "It's almost Halloween. I know you would probably rather spend your day here, wasting your life away, but just hear me out."

William folded his arms across his chest, but gave his attention to his friend nonetheless.

"You know how we always host a special little show each day on the week leading up to Halloween, right? Well, I want you to come down to the diner and watch one of the shows. You need to see that what we're doing here is bringing smiles to the faces of the children who love Freddy, Bonnie and the gang."

Henry frowned. William didn't seem convinced.

"Don't you remember how you would dress up in the Spring Bonnie suit and entertain the kids that came into the diner? They loved it. You loved it. That's why we did all this. For the kids."

For the kids. William wanted to laugh. Yeah. Maybe at one point it was for the kids. But then Fazbear Entertainment got too big and William-though he would never admit it-lost sight of the reason why he and Henry began this venture in the first place. But it's not like that mattered now. For the kids? Not anymore. All this business did was kill kids...

...a grin slowly began to form on William's face, a wolf-like, predatory grin that forced Henry to swallow the lump that magically formed in his throat.

"You know what, Henry? I think you're right," William said suddenly. "I think I will stop by on Halloween. It's for the kids after all."

Henry gave his friend a nod of acknowledgment.

"Great. I'm glad you're at least willing to try," he said sincerely.

Henry made his way toward the motel room door. He paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder at his friend for a brief moment before continuing to make his way outside, closing the motel door behind him. Outside in the cool fall weather, Henry shivered. It must have been a breeze that passed by to cause the cold, unsettling feeling that washed over him. At least, that's what Henry tried to convince himself of as he crossed the parking lot to his car, the fallen leaves of rose, topaz and citrine crunching below his feet.

Sliding into the driver's seat of his car, Henry grasped the steering wheel tightly. He hoped he did the right thing.


	12. Spring (un)Locked

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 7: Spring (un)Locked

As it always had been, Halloween was a busy time for the diner. The establishment was almost always full, with children and their families coming in to experience the special Halloween show that was put on by Freddy and the gang. Even the children in town that were normally too scared or uncomfortable around the animatronics partook in the festivities, as getting a fright was part of the fun of the season.

William sat in a secluded booth at the back of the diner, nursing a drink as he watched the children run around the room in excitement. He'd been thinking a great deal over the past couple of days about what Henry had said to him. _For the kids._ This monstrosity that they created was no longer a magical place where fun and fantasy came to life; no, it was more of a torture chamber where, if one wasn't careful, one might not make it out alive. The thing he had worked so hard to create, nurturing and building from its very conception in the minds of two friends into a prospering big business because exactly that: big. Too big, in fact. He could try and close down the business, but William knew that he would probably be faced with backlash. Hundreds of people across the country would be out of a job. Millions of dollars of revenue would be lost, hurting the families and communities that depended on it to support them. There had to be another way.

There was another way. It wasn't something that he ever imagined he would have to do, but William knew that he was out of options. Besides, he no longer felt anything. He was dead inside.

They needed to feel what he was feeling.

They needed to hurt like he did.

They needed to know that it wasn't fair that he lost not one, but two children.

The lights in the diner dimmed in anticipation for the next show. William seized this opportunity to slide out of the booth and slip unnoticed into the storage room. Softly closing the door behind him, he turned and came face to face with the empty animatronic costume standing alone in the corner. Spring Bonnie. Henry had reminded him how he used to don the suit and perform tricks and entertain the children that visited the diner back before he moved his family out of Hurricane. That sparked an idea in him, a dark, twisted and, quite frankly, evil idea.

William took a couple steps forward toward the costume, eyeing the golden fur and empty black eyes for a few moments. Could he really do this? William shook his head in an attempt to remove all doubts from his mind. It wasn't a matter of if it was something he _could_ do; this was something he needed to do. He had to destroy the monster he created from the inside. And he would do that from the inside of the Spring Bonnie suit.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who has been reading, especially those of you who have been kind enough to review. It is much appreciated :)


	13. A Dream

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 8: A Dream

Face buried in his pillow, William grumbled at the sound of pounding on his motel room door. It was the first time he had slept in weeks. Actually slept. Anytime he would try to allow his body to rest and succumb to the exhaustion he'd been feeling for quite some time, William would be jolted awake by the nightmares that played in his mind over and over again. It was like his eyelids had become a movie screen and his mind was the projector that was stuck on a loop, forced to continuously replay the two most devastating moments of his life again and again every single time he closed his eyes. Needless to say, with that being the case, William didn't get much sleep.

But last night was different. William drifted to sleep practically the moment he collapsed on his bed after returning from the diner. And the nightmares didn't haunt him. Instead, he was subjected to a very realistic dream.

In this dream, William saw himself inside of one of the animatronic suits, Spring Bonnie to be exact. As the lights flickered overhead in Fredbear's Family Diner, he sneaked over to one of the supply closets. Opening up the door, he found two sleeping children. Henry's twin children, Charlie and Sammie, were hiding out in the closet, taking a break from the festivities going on outside in the diner. William remembered snatching up little Sammie and whisking him away under the veil of darkness. No one saw him or suspected a thing. Out and away from everyone, Sammie woke up and began to panic. William/Spring Bonnie also panicked. He put his strong, mechanical paw over little Sammie's mouth and nose and held him tightly until the boy stopped his screaming. William didn't let go, however, after the child stopped screaming, nor did he release him after the child stopped moving. When he did, William was greeted with the sight of a dead child, fresh tears still staining his chubby toddler cheeks.

But that was all just a dream. And a realistic one at that.

The incessant knocking on the motel room door had yet to cease, forcing William to throw back the covers and get out of bed to answer it. Opening the door, he was nearly knocked on the head by Henry, who had raised his fist to continue rapping on the door before he realized that William had opened it.

"William, thank goodness," Henry said quickly, sounding like he was out of breath.

He slipped past William and entered inside the motel room, something that was very uncharacteristic of the normally polite and reserved man. Something was definitely wrong. Henry paced back and forth while nervously picking on his fingers as if they were machine parts.

"What's with you?" William asked with a yawn as he closed the door.

"Sammie's missing!" Henry blurted out.

William blinked. Sammie was missing. Oh, shit. The dream...it wasn't a dream after all. It was real. It actually happened. Sammie...Sammie was dead. He had killed the little child.

William stayed quiet while Henry rambled on about Sammie. His friend now had some semblance of an idea how he felt when he lost Lukas and Elyse. Though he knew it made him seem like a waste of human life, a ghoul, a sociopathic demon, William felt some delight in knowing that someone else felt his pain. Someone understood.

That was the answer. That was how he was going to make things right. That was how he was going to make them understand while also taking down the kraken he created.

"William?! Aren't you listening to me? I need your help finding Sammie!" Henry continued to ramble on.

William shook his head, bringing himself out of his reverie.

"Yeah, I hear you, I hear you," he replied.

William snagged some clothes off of the armchair next to the window and, after giving them the sniff test to see if they were wearable, proceeded to head toward the bathroom to change.

"Let me put on some clothes and I'll go with you," he continued before closing the bathroom door on Henry.

With the town of Hurricane being a rather small one, the local police department was staffed accordingly, with only a few individuals from the community being hired to work as as a member of the men (and women) in blue. Two officers from the department were dispatched to meet with Henry and William at the diner to discuss Sammie's disappearance. Henry frantically relayed all the information he knew to the officers, who recorded his statements in a little notebook. William stood off to the side, arms folded across his chest as he watched his friend report his missing child. Every once in a while, the second officer would sneak a glance at him, an expression appearing on her face that puzzled William. She didn't suspect him in Sammie's disappearance, did she?

Henry was utterly shaken after the officers took their leave. William took hold of his friend's arm and guided him over to a chair to sit down.

"Do you think I gave them enough information to help them find Sammie?" Henry began spewing everything that came to mind. "How did this happen? Where is my son? Why did this happen? Are they going to find him? Is he all right? Did anyone see anything? Did-"

"Henry, slow down," William ordered as he sat down in the chair across from him. "I can't understand you when you speak as fast as a malfunctioning animatronic."

Henry paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Sorry," he said. "You know, sometimes my mind works faster than my mouth. Or my hands."

"Yeah, I know," William agreed.

He leaned back in his chair and frowned at the entryway, watching as the two officers pulled away in their squad car. Henry followed his friend's gaze to the glass door.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"That woman cop kept staring at me," William replied with a frown. "She thinks I had something to do with this. That, or I know more than I'm letting on."

"What? That's insane!" Henry immediately defended his dear friend. "Of course you didn't. You would never hurt a child! I know you better than anyone, Will. You aren't capable of something like that."

William's lips pressed together tightly into a thin line.

"Right," he agreed quietly, continuing to stare out the window. "I would never do that."

* * *

Thanks to everyone who has R&R so far! It is much appreciated :)


	14. Necessary Sacrifice

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 9: Necessary Sacrifice

As a businessman, William was good at reading people. It was an essential skill in his chosen career path and it was one that he had carefully honed over the years. As a result, he correctly discerned that he was on the police officers' radar concerning Sammie's disappearance. He was sure to leave no evidence, however, to link him to the kidnapping and murder of the young boy. He wasn't stupid. Therefore, he was never charged with any crime.

Thinking it would be good to vanish for a little while, William cleaned up his motel room and packed up his car, planning to return to his home in the city. Of course, it only made him look guiltier.

 _Is he running away because he knows something?_

 _Did...did he do it?_

 _Why wouldn't he stay to support Henry?_

 _There's something off about that guy..._

Henry, like usual, defended William, his longtime friend and business partner.

 _He's grieving over his son and daughter, don't you know? He cared for Sammie and Charlie like they were his own flesh and blood! It's like losing another family member to him._

 _He loves children! He would never want something bad to happen to any child!_

 _How could you say something like that?! He's dedicated his life to bringing happiness and joy to children of all ages._

William did have to admit that he did feel the tiniest bit of guilt brewing somewhere deep inside of him at his friend's staunch and unwavering support of him. He was the one who killed his son in reality, yet that fact was something Henry disbelieved with every fiber of his being. It was a necessary sacrifice, though, bringing so much more negative attention than the "accidents" of his children ever drew in the media. In fact, Fredbear's Family Diner's business had been steadily dwindling since Sammie's disappearance. No one wanted to go to a place where a child had gone missing and had been subsequently murdered. In a small town like Hurricane, word spread fast about Sammie's disappearance and so the place was avoided like the plague. The only people that would drop in on occasion were travelers passing through the town. Even they were far and few between, as the rumor mill continued to churn and would sometimes get to these individuals before they could step foot in the diner.

Henry had contacted William a few times to discuss the failing business. William could tell from the sound of his friend's voice that he was heartbroken and defeated and his focus was no longer on the diner. Shut it down, William suggested. Much to his surprise (and his secret delight), Henry agreed. Not much argument was given by anyone when the announcement was made and so, Fredbear's Family Diner officially closed its doors not long after Sammie vanished.

While this was a small victory, the war was not yet won. There was a new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza located just a few miles south of Hurricane that had been constructed shortly before Sammie's disappearance and had recently opened its doors to the public. It was one step forward, then one step back.

Well, at least he had a plan now. William wouldn't let Freddy's continue to flourish. He took down one establishment, so he knew he could do it again. It was time to become Spring Bonnie once again.


	15. Headlines

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 10: Headlines

 _"Two local children have vanished. Their parents reported their disappearance following a trip to local pizzaria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The business asserts no connection between recent incidents and the kidnapping and murder of a toddler from the now-closed diner a few months back. The company also assures customers that it is still committed to family friendly entertainment and that safety is still its number one priority."_

 _"Concerns rise over safety and sanitary conditions at local pizzaria. Recent reports concerning the beloved animatronic characters from local pizzaria chain, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, have been plaguing the business. Several customers have reached out to news outlets to report the characters having a 'foul odor' and seemingly excreting 'blood' and 'mucus' from their bodies. A former customer of the pizzaria, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the police were contacted regarding the strange substances found around the eyes and mouths of the popular animal mascots. When asked to describe the state of the characters, the customer described them as 'reanimated carcasses.'"_

 _"Update on the missing children from the local pizzaria: two local children were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza on the night of June 26_ _th_ _. While video surveillance identified the man responsible and led to his capture the following morning, the children themselves were never found and are presumed dead. Police think that the suspect dressed as a company mascot to earn the children's trust."_

 _"Local pizzaria facing financial woes. The once successful pizzaria and entertainment chain, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a part of Fazbear Entertainment, has been struggling to keep business up and running as of late. Several locations have downsized, cutting employees and/or business hours, and some have even been forced to close their doors to the public. Fazbear Entertainment CEO William Afton declined to comment on the situation."_

 _"More children reported missing. Cop cars outside of local pizzaria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, have become a common sight at the business. Sources claim that yet another child has been reported missing from the establishment. Fazbear Entertainment was asked for a statement regarding this new incident, but a representative of the company declined to comment, but did state that safety is still the number one priority of the company."_

 _"Wrongfully accused? With the disappearance of yet another child, bringing the total to four, from Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, doubt has been surfacing concerning the arrest of a former employee with the company who was suspected of kidnapping and murdering the children in question. Authorities claimed that surveillance footage from the establishment showed the suspect as the party responsible for the murders but, as two more children have vanished from the pizzaria since the arrest of the suspect in question, concern has been raised as to whether or not the suspect in custody is, in fact, guilty. The bodies of the missing children have not been found."_

 _"Local pizzaria threatened with shutdown over sanitation. Local pizzaria, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has been threatened again with shutdown by the health department over reports of foul odor coming from the much-loved animal mascots. Police were contacted when parents reportedly noticed what appeared to be blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the mascots. One parent alikened them to 'reanimated carcasses.'"_

 _"Another update on the missing children: Five children now reported missing. Suspect convicted. Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured them into a back room. While the suspect has been charged, the bodies themselves were never found. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has been fighting an uphill battle ever since to convince families to return to the pizzaria. 'It's a tragedy,'"_


	16. Conditions

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters. ** But I did get a ton of FNaF stuff for my birthday last week :)

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 11: Conditions

William read through the latest newspaper headlines regarding his failing company, tossing the paper aside when he was finished. "It's a tragedy," he mused. That was the best statement that he could come up with to appease the members of the press that hounded him day in and day out. What do you think about this? What is going on with that? Can you tell us your thoughts on the incidents? William was tired of it all but at least his plan was working. The company was tanking. People were finally seeing the dangers that the animatronics posed to the children, something he had been trying to get others to recognize for years.

"Uh, M-Mr. Afton?" a voice addressed him from the doorway of his office.

William looked up and at the employee. It was Scott. Amazingly, the man had stayed through the company through thick and thin. Despite his self-professed mission of revenge against Fazbear Entertainment, William did feel a tinge of remorse of hurting people like Scott who did nothing wrong other than picking up the newspaper one day and answering the help wanted ad placed by the company.

"What can I do for you, Scott?" he asked.

"I-I wanted to bring to your attention a matter t-that's a bit, well, troubling," Scott began to explain, taking a few steps gingerly into the office.

William sat up in his chair from his reclining position, the nuts and bolts of the piece of furniture groaning as he shifted from the immense weight he had put on over the past few months.

"What kind of matter?"

"W-well, it's with the n-new location. The night guard there has brought up some concerns about the working...conditions,"

"Such as?" William motioned with his hand for Scott to stop beating around the bush and just spit out whatever it was that he was trying to say.

"H-he stated that some of the characters seem to, well, move around at night," Scott stated, trying to break the news gently.

More bad news was the last thing that Freddy's needed at the moment. With all of the bad press on television and in the newspaper, malfunctioning animatronics was not going to help the matter.

"He said it seemed like some of the characters were t-trying to g-get into the security office," Scott continued, beginning to pace back and forth in his anxiousness. "He said it was like they had become 'possessed' or something-his words, n-not mine..."

William frowned.

"Did you have the engineers look at the animatronics?" he questioned.

Scott nodded vehemently.

"O-of course, sir," he assured his boss. "T-they don't have an explanation as to why this might be happening."

William thought over the situation for a brief moment before responding. The animatronics were malfunctioning? They were acting like they were possessed? William's eyes widened in shock. He whirled his chair around to face the back wall of his office in an attempt to hide his shock from Scott who, thankfully, did not appear to notice his dramatic change in emotions.

He'd disposed of the bodies in the animatronic suits. He knew that no one would ever try to look there. The characters hadn't been washed or updated in years, so William figured that it would be the perfect hiding place. It proved to be an accurate assumption, as the police had investigated every nook and cranny of the pizzaria after the children disappeared from the premises and did not find a single shred of evidence.

For some reason, however, hearing Scott say that the animatronics appeared "possessed" just made William feel completely unsettled. He never really believed in any of the paranormal malarkey, as he always prided himself on being a very logical and grounded human being. There was a reasonable explanation for everything, and yet, that little nine letter word scared the shit out of him. The children...they...they couldn't be haunting the pizzeria, could they? Pssh, of course not. William quickly dismissed the notion.

Turning his chair back around, he addressed Scott again.

"So, what does the security guard want?"

"He'd like to transfer to the day shift instead, sir," Scott replied.

William gave Scott a single small nod.

"All right. Move him to the day shift. We'll need someone to cover the night shift in the mean time, until we can hire someone as a replacement..."

"I-I'll do it," Scott volunteered, just as William figured he would.

"Thank you, Scott," William replied. "Tell the guard that he can move to the day shift and then put a help wanted ad out in the newspaper ASAP. We need to fill that position."

"Of course, sir. I'll do that right now."

Scott quickly headed out of the office to do as William had instructed, closing the office door behind him. As his footsteps disappeared down the hall, the thoughts began flooding William's mind. There had to be a reasonable explanation for all of this. There had to be.


	17. Reasonable Explanations

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 12: Reasonable Explanations

His office resembled a war zone. Papers, notes, plans and open books were scattered across practically every available service in the room. William was using every possible resource to find a reasonable explanation for the behavior of the animatronics. There was no such thing as ghosts, William tried to reassure himself, but, in the minuscule chance that he was wrong, he was prepared to find a scientific, logical answer to the malfunctioning of the animatronics. After spending hours upon hours holed up in his office, empty pizza boxes and soda cans also littering the floor, he was pretty certain he'd found the answer.

Reviewing some of the old blueprints and plans that Henry had designed years ago, William came up with the theory that the characters were never given a proper 'night mode'. Yes, that was the reason. The animatronics are designed to bring maximum enjoyment and fun to the children and families so, when things are quiet, as they would presumably be during the night shift, the characters believe that they are in the wrong room. As a result, they will roam around the building looking for people to entertain, which, in the case of the night guard, the sole occupant of the building during the night shift, would be him or her. That's why they were trying to get in to the security office at night.

William let out a sigh of relief at this theory. That made much more sense to him than anything else that he could think of. It wasn't like the animatronics were possessed by the souls of the dead children that he'd murdered and stuffed into their costumes and that the vengeful and angry ghosts of the children targeted the night guard on duty because they believed that he/she was the one who killed them since a former night guard was the one who was arrested and convicted for their murders. Yeah, that wasn't the reason at all.

He was sure Henry would agree with him; at least, he would have if he was still alive. The poor man, whether out of grief or guilt or something else entirely, committed suicide a few weeks back. Before the night guard William framed for the murders was identified and arrested, Henry was also considered a suspect in the disappearance of the five missing children, as well as his son, Sammie. That broke him greatly but, as William was aware, it was a necessary sacrifice. Little Charlie was sent off to live with a relative somewhere else. That was unfortunate, but, again, necessary. She was young; she wouldn't remember majority of this anyway.

Heaving his hefty body up and off the floor, William eventually made it back to his desk. Taking a brief moment to catch his breath, he then grabbed the phone from its cradle and contacted Scott. He knew the man liked to leave messages for the new employees as a sort of 'welcome aboard' type thing and so he wanted to relay his theory of no proper night mode to his longtime employee to, in turn, relay to the employees.

Scott, a faithful and loyal guy (sometimes to a fault), willingly accepted William's theory hook, line and sinker. Returning the phone to its cradle, William continued to think. The night mode theory was a good thing to tell the employees, for sure, but that still didn't seem to clear up all the doubts that lingered in his head.

For the sake of exploring all of the options, William allowed himself to consider the fact that the animatronics may, in fact, be possessed. So what would that mean? That would mean that they would need to be dismantled. He would need to destroy the parts of the animatronics and dispose of the remains of the dead children. Perhaps their souls were trapped in the costumes because that's where he disposed of their bodies. There _were_ newer models of the characters that Henry had constructed before he died, so, if William just so happened to decommission some of the old animatronics, that wouldn't seem so strange. He would do it secretly, of course.

One by one, William would program the animatronics to head to the safe room and dismantle them. Majority of the safe rooms had been locked away, with false walls being constructed over the employees-only designated room, but, as the CEO of the company, he still had access to them. Most of the employees had no idea that the safe room existed, especially since the newest location with the kid-friendly "toy" version of the characters was full of new workers. It was a new twist on the old business, something the board of directors came up with that William had to go along with so that his plan to sabotage Fazbear Entertainment would continue to go unnoticed. He would also store his Spring Bonnie suit in the safe room, just in case the need to utilize it ever arose again.

* * *

Just want to say another quick thanks to everyone who is reading this-it's much appreciated!


	18. One by One

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 13: One by One

Freddy.

Bonnie.

Chica.

Foxy.

One by one, William dismantled the old animatronics. Standing in the safe room, wrench in hand, he was breathing heavily. He'd done it. He'd destroyed all of the original animatronics, thus, as he deemed it, releasing the spirits of the children he'd murdered. Or, so he thought.

Looking up from the pile of mechanical parts that lay scattered on the floor, William jolted backward at the sight in front of him.

"What the hell?!" he gasped.

Standing before him were five translucent figures. Each one wore a mask of one of the characters, the eyes of which glowed an eerie white light. The figures were small, the size of children. Though they were grey and silent, these figures terrified William beyond all belief. As a wave of terror shot down his spine, he instantly knew that was he was staring at was not a figment of his imagination, but truly present before his very eyes.

The children he murdered.

"H-how," William could barely get the words out, rasping and wheezing. "How?!"

The figures did not speak. One, wearing the Golden Freddy mask, stepped forward though. He began slowly approaching William, who did everything in his power to get away from the ghost child. The Golden Freddy child did not relent, continuing to follow him about the room. William needed a place to hide. And fast.

William's eyes settled on the Spring Bonnie costume lying in a heap of matted golden fur on the floor a few feet away. Of course! Making a u-turn, William headed straight for the costume, slipping into the suit as fast as humanly possible. He did it. He was safe.

 _Was it you?_

 _Was it you that hurt us?_

 _Was it you that killed us?_

 _Was it you?_

 _It was you._

William began to chuckle lightly. They still didn't know if he was the one who murdered them! He could still get away with it!

 _If we're here, then they are too._

"They?" William wondered aloud, responding to the words of the ghost children.

 _A little boy._

 _A little girl._

 _They died too._

 _They are still here._

William's laughter instantly died in his throat. A little boy. A little girl. Though the ghost children did not specifically identify them, he instantly knew to whom they were referring. _His_ little boy and _his_ little girl: Lukas and Elyse.

How did he not figure that, if the children he killed were stuck at Freddy's, his own children were stuck there too?! Lukas and Elyse...they'd been trapped at Freddy's the whole time! Without thinking, William attempted to turn quickly to dash out of the room, which proved to be a major mistake. The spring locks in the suit malfunctioned and pierced his skin. William screamed, though, with the voice box and other mechanical parts in the suit disabled in order to wear the costume, no sound came out. The blood began pooling in the arms and legs of the suit and, as the viscous liquid left his body, William felt faint, ultimately crumpling to the ground.

His body twitching, the ghost children surrounded William. Their glowing eyes stared intently at the man who murdered them. With William dead, they silently floated toward the door, vanishing into the darkness. They wanted to leave, but couldn't. William may have destroyed their animatronic bodies but he did not release their souls yet. At least, however, they knew that they no longer had to 'live' in fear or anger because William was dead...

Little did they know that the man in the Spring Bonnie suit was not dead.


	19. A Birthday Gift

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.** I do own Freddy and friends, but in plush/figure form only :)

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 14: A Birthday Gift

YEARS LATER...

"Happy Birthday, Mikey!" Diana Schmidt kissed her now eighteen year old son on the cheek and ruffled his dark colored locks.

"Mom!" Mike protested with a laugh.

"Oh, hush, Michael," she swatted her son playfully on the shoulder. "You'll never be too old to get a happy birthday kiss from your mother."

In the kitchen of their duplex home, Diana departed from the table where she and her son were sitting that morning and returned a few moments later with a bag of wrapped gifts and some cards in colorful envelopes. She smiled as she set them down on the table in front of Mike.

For as long as Mike could remember, it had just been the two of them. Once upon a time, he had a whole family, with a father and a brother and a sister too, but that was all but a distant memory. Not that he was trying to forget them or wanted to forget them, it was more like a subconscious defense mechanism. Plus, the mental breakdown he had when he was only nine that left him in the hospital undergoing months of treatment and therapy probably didn't help the matter either. Pretty much his entire memory of the third grade was gone but, as Mike figured, it probably wasn't worth remembering anyway.

"Are you going to open your presents, Mike, or just look at the pretty wrapping paper?" Diana chided her son.

Mike shook his head, bringing himself back to reality, and then turned his attention back toward the bag of gifts his mother had brought out to him. Even though he was legally eighteen, Mike devoured his presents like he was only eight, shredding the wrapping paper to bits in order to open the present and see what was inside. His mother always got him such great presents, like the CD from his favorite band that he'd been wanting for months and a brand new game for his Super Nintendo gaming console, but that wasn't surprising since they had relied on each other for majority of the past decade.

Once he'd finished opening up the gifts, Mike moved on to the birthday cards. They were mostly from his relatives and family friends, wishing him a happy birthday with some gift cards, cash or, since he was now eighteen, lottery tickets. One card, however, caught his interest. Unlike the rest of the cards, it came in a plain white envelope and only had "Michael" written across the front of it in an oddly familiar handwriting. Opening it up, Mike was a little surprised not to find a card, but an actual letter addressed to him.

 _Dearest Michael,_

 _Happy 18_ _th_ _Birthday, son! Words cannot express how terribly I feel that I cannot be there with you to celebrate your special day. Eighteen years old...wow...I can't believe you're all grown up already!_

 _Now that you're older, I think it's finally time that I told you everything. You're a young man now, no longer a child, so you deserve to know the truth. The truth about Freddy Fazbear's and all the tragic events that enveloped it...and...my role in the events..._

"Who's that from?" Diana asked as she began cleaning up the bits of wrapping paper that had fluttered about the room.

Mike looked up with a start.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

He knew exactly whom the letter was from: his father. Mike was shocked to have this piece of paper in his hands. His father had disappeared one night years ago, without so much as a word to him or Diana. The handwriting was undeniably his father's, as the penmanship had a certain flourish and style that was indicative of his father's. And what was he talking about, the "truth about Freddy Fazbear's and all the tragic events" and "my role in the events..."?

Not sure if this was something that he wanted to share with his mother, for the moment at least, Mike folded up the letter and slipped it into the folds of the t-shirt his mother had gotten for him.

"That was just a note from...Uncle Jimmy," he informed his mother, hoping his lie wasn't too transparent. "You know how he likes to joke around."

"I should have figured," Diana seemed to accept that answer. "He's always been that way, even when we were kids."

"Well, thanks for the presents, Mom," Mike gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm going to go hang out with some friends. Bye!"

Grabbing as much of his stuff as he could, Mike hustled out the door before his mother could stop him. Once outside, he threw his things into the passenger's seat of his car before returning to the driver's side and getting inside the car himself. Mike backed out of the driveway and sped off down the street, not entirely sure where he was going. Thinking it over as he drove, he ultimately settled on heading over to a friend's place.

Knocking on the door of his friend's apartment, Mike was greeted by a blond haired twenty-something man.

"Happy birthday, Mike!" Jeremy Fitzgerald greeted his friend. "I was going to stop by your place later, see if you wanted to go grab some pizza and celebrate your birthday, but I guess you beat me to it. Come on in."

"Thanks, Jer," Mike replied as he entered inside his friend's apartment.

Not surprisingly, Jeremy and Mike met through Freddy Fazbear's. Jeremy worked as a night guard at one of the locations before being injured in the notorious "Bite of '87." Mike, having been through something similar with his younger brother, Lukas, reached out to Jeremy during his recovery and the two had been friends ever since.

"Pizza sounds great," Mike continued. "But I need to show you something first."

Mike pulled out the mysterious letter from his jeans pocket.

"What's that?" Jeremy asked.

"It's a letter from my father," Mike shifted uncomfortably.

"Wait, what? Your father? I thought he died?"

"We don't know what happened to him, actually. My mom thought he died since he pretty much just vanished one day, but, yet, here is a letter from him. It was mixed in with my birthday cards from my family."

"Are you sure it's recent? You know, not a letter he wrote years ago in anticipation of your eighteenth b-day?" Jeremy questioned his friend.

Mike shook his head.

"It couldn't be. My father mentions something about the tragedies at Freddy's," he explained. "All those kids that went missing and the arrest of that former night guard, Vincent, that all happened a few years ago. Even _I_ remember that and my memory is kind of crappy."

Jeremy's frown became even more prominent on his usually calm face. An involuntary shudder shot its way through his body. Freddy Fazbear's...where fun and fantasy were supposed to come to life. That was definitely not the case for him and the numerous others (including Mike) that had been affected by the place. He felt the scars on his arms and hands begin to throb as he thought about Freddy's for the first time in years. The last time he'd been there was back in 1987 and, needless to say, after his "accident" (or so management called it), he hadn't been back since.

"Well, what does it say about all that stuff?" Jeremy asked, his voice betraying the uncertainly he felt in whether or not he really wanted to know the answer to that question.

"I don't know yet. My mom was in the room when I started reading the letter and I'm not sure if it's something she should know about right now," Mike stated. "I mean, you know, they really didn't have the best relationship after what happened to my brother and my sister..."

Jeremy gave him a nod of understanding. Mike let out a breath before turning his attention to the letter. Carefully unfolding it, he continued reading, Jeremy reading alongside him.

 _...First of all, I want to tell you, Michael, that nothing that happened with your brother was your fault. Absolutely nothing. I know you blamed yourself for what happened to Lukas, but I assure you, not for one moment did your mother and I blame you. Please remember that. I want to make sure that you know that you are not a monster. You are not evil. You are not anything like me._

 _I am all of those things. I am a monster. I am evil. But, I became those things out of necessity. At least, that's how I look at it. Others may view it differently and I don't blame them at all. What am I talking about? Well, I am talking about the missing children. Vincent was innocent of the crimes. I feel a bit of shame and guilt in admitting that but there's nothing I can do about that now._

 _How do I know that he was innocent? Because...this is harder to admit than I thought...because I did it. I kidnapped the children. All of them. It started with Sammie, Henry's son. I was so angry and depressed over what happened to Elyse. I blamed myself. I knew the dangers the animatronics posed, yet I still let her go to Circus Baby's Pizza World. I failed her. I failed Lukas. I failed you. I had to fix all the things I screwed up while destroying the very monster that I created: Freddy Fazbear's._

 _Killing Sammie only managed to close down the diner back in Hurricane, so I knew that I had to do more than just that. I used one of the costumes, Spring Bonnie, to lure other children into the safe room in some of the other Freddy's locations. The plan worked; the company began to tank. Stores began closing, exactly as I'd hoped they would. I didn't care if I lost millions in the process. I wanted to annihilate Freddy's._

 _I thought I'd succeeded. But I was wrong. The children...they're not dead, Michael. I mean, physically, they're dead, but they're still alive somehow. I can't explain it. I never believed in all that crap. The children, they found me in the safe room one day...their ghosts...they haunted me...I...think they're in the animatronic costumes...that's where I hid their bodies...I think their souls are still in the suits..._

 _If their souls are still there, then that means that Elyse's might still be there, too. She has to be inside of Circus Baby. I know I must sound insane, Michael, and you have every reason to not believe a single word I say. However, I want you to think about all that I have written so far-why would I make up something like this? I have absolutely no reason to. By all accounts, I got away with my crimes. Vincent was arrested and convicted for the crimes I committed. Confessing my crimes would not be beneficial in any way to me._

 _With that in mind, I wanted to reach out to you, Michael, my dearest son, to ask for your help. I have screwed up beyond badly and I need you to fix my errors. I need you to go to Freddy's and destroy the animatronics. You need to release the souls of the children that I killed. You need to release your sister, Elyse. She was just a baby; she didn't deserve any of what happened. Baby is broken, so that means your sister is broken too. Please, Michael, help her._

 _Save them, Michael. Save them..._

* * *

Don't forget to check out my gofundme page to help me raise money to get my novel published! There's information about it on my author page or PM for more info.


	20. Decisions

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 15: Decisions

Jeremy had stopped reading long before Michael had gotten to the end of the note from his father. The contents of the note just made him sick. He tried to keep himself busy by hanging around in his kitchen, pretending to tidy up, keeping an eye on his friend to see when he finished reading the letter. Michael stood rooted in his spot in the living room for some time, eyes glued to the paper in his hands. Jeremy watched him nervously from the adjoining kitchen.

"Um, Mikey? You okay?" he questioned.

Mike did not reply. Wobbling slightly, he looked as though he was going to faint, so Jeremy hurried over to him and helped his friend get to the couch.

"What the hell am I supposed to do about this?" Mike finally spoke. "My father killed those kids! Those poor kids! He thinks their ghosts are stuck in the character suits? Including my sister?"

He thrust his head into his hands, having a very difficult time comprehending all that he had just read. After a few minutes, Mike had calmed down enough and lifted his head up to look over at his friend.

"What am I supposed to do, Jer?" he asked, his tone pained and full of uncertainty.

"I have no idea," Jeremy replied earnestly. "I can't even begin to think of an idea of what you should do, Mike. But, I'm here, buddy. I'll help you out however you need me too. Us Freddy victims got to stick together, right?"

Mike remembered saying something similar to Jeremy when the two had first met. It was reassuring to know that he had Jeremy on his side.

"There's so many decisions I have to make now!" Mike thought out loud. "Do I take this to the police? Will they take it seriously if I do? Are the children really ghosts and stuck in the animatronics? How am I supposed to get in there and fix things if they are?"

Jeremy mused over his friend's situation, hoping to help him out in some way, shape or form.

"Uh, Mike," he said slowly, still thinking things over. "I might have a way for you to get in there...if that's what you want to do..."

Mike paused mid-sentence and gave Jeremy his full attention.

"Your mom gave your her maiden name after the divorce, right?" Jeremy began to say (Mike nodded). "Well, if you really wanted to get in there, you could apply for a job at one of the few remaining locations of Freddy's. I mean, no one's really seen you since...the incident...so, what are the odds that any of the old employees, if any are still there, would recognize you?"

"That's a good point. People at Freddy's only know the name Afton, but not Schmidt," Mike agreed thoughtfully. "I could get a job there, like you said, and dismantle the animatronics. Maybe...maybe I could find the bodies of the children in the animatronics and save them and save my sister..."

Mike's voice trailed off. Jeremy couldn't deny the feeling of despair and fear that washed over him when Mike seemingly made his decisions. He should have kept that idea to himself. But, like he had previously told Mike, he would support him in whatever decision he made, even if he didn't like it. And, without a doubt, Jeremy did not like this.


	21. Return to the Scene of the Crime

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 16: Return to the Scene of the Crime

Mike sat in his car in the parking lot, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. His chest hurt from his heart beating so wildly against his rib cage. When Jeremy and he came up with a plan to help remedy the actions of Mike's father, he hadn't realized how difficult it would have been just to be on company property. Mike hadn't realized that the PTSD from his traumatic experiences at Freddy's would be this bad. Unfortunately, he knew he needed to get inside. Mike would hate to get fired before his first shift even began.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Mike forced himself to unbuckle his seat belt and exit his car. It took a bit of convincing to finally make his feet move to propel himself forward to the entrance of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A shaky hand on the door handle, Mike pushed open the menacing glass door and headed inside.

As if the place had been frozen in time, Freddy Fazbear's was very similar to the way Mike remembered it from all those years ago. The only major difference was that the bright colors and cheerful sounds were replaced with grey and dingy surroundings and silence. Mike shivered as he walked through the entryway. This place could be used as a horror attraction.

Reaching the security office, Mike rapped his knuckles against the metal door frame to get the attention of the guard currently on duty. A young blonde girl, probably no more than a few years older than himself, was seemingly more interested in using the security monitor as a mirror to apply her make up.

"You the new guy?" she questioned, her eyes still glued to the monitor as she slid a tube of cotton candy pink lipstick across her lips.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," Mike confirmed, his voice wavering somewhat.

Pleased with her appearance, the woman straightened her posture and gave Mike a smile.

"Sorry to dash and run, kid, but I have a date to get to and I'm already late," she explained earnestly. "Training tapes are in the first drawer. They'll tell you all you need to know about this place, not that there's really much to do here, since this place is pretty much a ghost town."

Grabbing a scrap piece of paper off of the cluttered desk, the woman, Valerie, scribbled something down and then handed it to Mike.

"If you have any questions, I'll be up for a while still, so give me a call if you need anything," she said as she headed toward the office door. "Good luck!"

Valerie dashed out of the office before Mike even had a chance to respond. With a shrug, he stuffed her number in his pocket and then sat down in the chair situated near the security monitors. Taking a brief moment to flip through the different camera feeds, Mike's breath hitched in his throat when he saw Freddy, Bonnie and Chica staring back at him from their spots on the stage.

"H-hey, guys," he said with a nervous laugh. "L-long time, no see..."

Pushing the monitor aside, Mike shifted his attention to the desk across from him. Valerie had said there were training tapes and, though Mike figured that this job didn't require too much thought or intelligence, he decided to pass some time by listening to whatever wisdom said tapes had to impart on him. Sifting through the miscellaneous items, Mike found the box of training tapes, as well as something kind of unexpected. With a frown, he held a newspaper clipping from back in the glory days of Freddy Fazbear's. There was a photo along with the article, which showed his father, William Afton, and his business partner, Henry, standing outside of the newly opened pizza place, wearing bright smiles after doing a ribbon cutting ceremony.

"Why, Dad?" Mike questioned quietly. "Why did you do it?"

Although William had tried to explain his reason for his actions in the letter he sent to Mike on his birthday, it was still something that Mike had difficulty in comprehending. Taking one last look at the photo before setting it aside, Mike noted how much he resembled a younger version of his father. It was almost frightening how similar the two looked. Before receiving the letter, that would have been a good thing, but now, knowing what he did about his father's actions, that wasn't anything to be proud of. Mike then popped in the first training tape, labeled "Night 1."

" _Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact..."_ _the speaker on the tape began.  
_ _  
_Having returned to the camera control panel to flip through the camera feeds, Mike's head snapped up at the sound of the voice emanating from the speakers on the desk. It was extremely familiar. Whose voice was that?  
 _  
"..._ _So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay? Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know..."_

Wait...Mr. Cawthon! Scott Cawthon, the security guy who'd been with the company for years! Mike remembered him. He was a great guy and a good employee. Mike recalled (with some guilt) how Scott had selflessly did everything he could to save his little brother, Lukas, when the...incident...occurred, receiving several broken and bruised fingers for his heroic efforts. Hearing Scott's voice certainly made Mike feel more at ease. At least, that's how he felt until the next part of the recording.

 _"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"_

There were so many conflicting emotions that struck Mike all at once like a roundhouse kick to the head. First he experienced fear at the thought of the animatronics freely roaming the facilities. Was it because they had a free roaming mode or was his father right and the souls of the dead children were trapped inside and looking for a way out? Then there was anger. The victim of the Bite of '87 was his good friend, Jeremy. Though the incident was immediately swept under the rug, it enraged Mike to hear people talk so candidly about the traumatic incident. He saw how it affected Jeremy in his everyday life, with his speech and memory problems being the least of his worries, though the man did his best not to let it show. But, then again, Scott hadn't been at that location that day, as he was overseeing the implementation of a security system at one of the newer locations, so he probably didn't know the whole story. It wasn't something that the company really wanted the world to know, even having Jeremy agree to a nondisclosure agreement with a hefty cash settlement that he liked to call "hush money" to keep quiet about the incident.

Thinking of Jeremy, Mike began to wonder if this whole plan was even a good idea. He seriously considered, for a brief moment, just pushing the camera control panel out of his way and walking out of Freddy Fazbear's. That was the best thing to do at that moment, to just get up and leave. However, Mike knew that he couldn't. What if the animatronics were, in fact, haunted by the ghosts of the dead children? That meant that his little sister, Elyse, was probably one of them too. If there was any hope of freeing the dead children from their animatronic prisons, it was him. He failed his brother all those years ago. He wasn't going to fail his sister this time, no matter what the cost. He owed it to both Lukas and Elyse to do his damnedest and try.

* * *

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today!

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	22. Increasing the Tally

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.** But, oh, how I wish I did.

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 17: Increasing the Tally

He somehow managed to survive the first three nights with no problems. Well, "no problems" was quite the understatement, as Mike frequently had unwelcome visitors to the security office throughout the night. On multiple occasions, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy and Freddy all, either alone or in some sort of group effort, had tried to gain entry into the office, nearly scaring Mike half to death. The worst part was that, as the nights progressed, the intensity and frequency of the attacks only seemed to increase.

Arriving for the fourth night of his five day work week, Mike was greeted by Valerie, who had some unfortunate news to share with him.

"Hey, Mike," the blonde greeted him as he headed into the security office at around quarter to midnight. "Apparently, we're kind of short staffed security wise. I'm pulling a double shift this weekend and management wanted to know if you'd be available to work the weekend too. The guy who normally does is filling in during the day."

Mike shrugged.

"Sure, I guess," he replied.

"Great," Valerie replied with a smile. "You're a peach, Mike."

The next fifteen minutes flew by, as it always did, and it was then time for Mike's shift. As he'd done for the past three nights, he fired up the next tape in the queue of training tapes. The tapes weren't necessarily helpful, per se, but it was somewhat reassuring to hear the voice of Scott each night. If Scott managed to survive the place for so long, Mike figured that he could as well.

 _"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day 4. I knew you could do it. Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow...*bang, bang, bang, bang*_ _It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you *clears throat* uh, when I did..."_ _  
Mike looked up from the camera control panel with a start. What the hell just happened in that recording?! Scott sounded like he was being attacked by the animatronics, or, more likely, about to become the main course in the midnight character feast. Mike continued listening, not entirely sure what to expect next.  
_ _"Uh, hey, do me a favor. *bang, bang, bang, bang* Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? *bang, bang, bang, bang* I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad... Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there..."_

 __Mike froze, the sound of the recording being drowned out as a result of his heart pounding so loudly. He recognized that metallic sounding scream. It was forever etched in his memory. Mike's eyes immediately flew shut as his mind transported him back to that day.

...the sounds of his brother's tears and cries...

...the sounds of Freddy's mechanical voice singing and laughing...

...the sounds of Freddy's mouth closing on his brother's head...

...the sounds of metal gears cracking through solid bone...

A shudder coursed through Mike's body. There was no doubt as to what happened to Scott. The animatronics got to him. They claimed another victim. Their victim tally had been increased by yet another innocent individual. While one was too many, the total number of people that have died as a result of an "incident" at Freddy Fazbear's was beyond anything Mike could imagine. This needed to end and preferably before Mike, himself, became the next victim to perish in the clutches of Freddy and his friends...


	23. Habits and Tendencies

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 18: Habits and Tendencies

Monitoring the animatronics and their respective habits and tendencies over the past six nights gave Mike a good idea of how to disable them, as per his father's wishes. Bonnie always came to the left door and Chica, the right. Freddy was more of a wild card, with his movements being far from predictable, but he always would try to enter the security office via the right door. Foxy, on the other hand, when he was feeling antsy and left Pirate Cove, dashed straight to the left door.

Settling in to the security office for the seventh night, Mike was ready to deactivate the animatronics and hopefully release the souls of the children that were trapped inside the suits. He frowned; Mike figured he sounded crazy by thinking that way. At least Jeremy believed him. That made Mike feel a little bit less insane.

In addition to studying the animatronics over the past few nights, Mike also made a trip to his father's old house, specifically, his father's study. His father's personal home office contained endless plans, designs and details on the mechanics and inner workings of the animatronics. With Jeremy's help, Mike located the power modules on each of the animatronics at Freddy Fazbear's. The older models, like Freddy and his friends, only had a power module located on the back of the costume where the detachable head met the torso. The newer models, like those at Circus Baby's Pizza World, had a much more complicated mechanism to gain access to the power module, requiring one to press a series of buttons on the face plates of the costume, which would then unlock the inner mechanism that housed the power module. While that seemed easy enough, actually extracting the power module was a different story. Mike was going to need to somehow get behind the animatronic that was attempting to murder him or stuff him in an empty Freddy suit (or both) and dislodge the module without, well, dying.

"All right, guys, let's do this," Mike said aloud as the clock down the hall began to ring as it struck midnight.

He was ready for Freddy. Or, so he told himself.

The first animatronic to be on the move was Bonnie, though that really wasn't a surprise. Bonnie always tended to be the one that was active first and the longest. Needless to say, flipping through the camera feeds and finding the hulking purple bunny roaming around the establishment was not a shock. Mike monitored Bonnie's movements via the camera control panel, waiting until the robotic rabbit was en route to the security office to slip out into the left hallway. Taking cover in the darkness of the blind spot that was out of the camera's vantage point, Mike waited for Bonnie to approach. The heavy, clunking, metallic sounding steps were a good indication that the first animatronic was making his way toward the office.

Mike had to swallow a frightened gasp as Bonnie approached the left office doorway and peered inside the empty room. He was terrified that the rabbit would figure out that he was hiding outside of the office and get him before Mike could deactivate him.

 _One...two...three..._ he counted silently to himself, clenching his teeth together with enough force to feel as though he was going to crack them. Before he could have a chance to reconsider his reckless actions, Mike popped up from his hiding space and launched himself at the back of Bonnie. Mike's attack was such a surprise that he successfully removed the power module from Bonnie with practically no resistance from the rabbit. Right before his eyes, the rabbit's limbs stiffened for a brief moment before going slack, Bonnie's head tilting forward and the gentle hum of the animatronic's mechanics operating sputtering before abruptly stopping. Bonnie had been deactivated.

Mike's eyes drifted down to the puny little red colored power module in his shaking hand. He let out a laugh, the sound echoing throughout the hallway since it was a little louder than intended. This minuscule thing was what made these homicidal animatronics work?! This was it?! Mike continued laughing, a mixture of anxiety and relief bubbling over and escaping through his laughter. Unfortunately, the jolly sound attracted the attention of some unwanted guests. Mike's ears perked up at the sound of steps, the volume of which increased, signaling their approach.

"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered to himself as he raced back into the office.

Quickly pulling up the camera control panel, Mike flipped through the feeds and found Chica making her way toward the security office. His heart pounding louder than the approaching footsteps, he dove into the blind spot in the right hallway. Mike was sweating profusely by this point and, despite his success with Bonnie, he was still deeply worried about being able to deactivate the remaining animatronics.

A bit of light filtering in from a window down the hall allowed Mike to see a glimpse of metallic yellow glitter coming his way. Chica was on the move. The groan of gears became louder and Mike was able to see the robot chicken as she stopped in front of the security office's picture window. This was going to be more difficult than with Bonnie, as Chica didn't come nearly as close to the blind spot as the former did. However, he really didn't have much of a choice. It was now or never because, since he was the sole occupant of the building during the night shift, it was going to be obvious to the higher ups who was tampering with the animatronics and that would probably get him fired. If he got fired, then he would no longer have free access to the animatronics, which was something he absolutely needed in order to free the souls of the children that were stuck in the costumes.

Shifting to his feet, Mike carefully and surreptitiously moved forward toward Chica. The chicken's robot head turned agonizingly slowly in his direction, causing Mike to freeze in place. Had she heard him? Did she know he was there? After a few seconds, though it seemed like an eternity to Mike, Chica's focus drifted back to the security office and Mike let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Waiting a few moments until Chica turned to leave, positioning her back toward him, Mike leaped out from the darkness and yanked the power module out of its slot. Much like Bonnie, Chica's limbs stiffened for an instance before going completely slack. Two down, two to go.

Sticking that power module in his jeans pocket, Mike returned to the security office. He still had to deal with Freddy and Foxy, the locations of which were unknown at the moment. Flopping down into the desk chair, he took a moment to regain his breath before sliding the camera control panel over to him to check through the feeds to find the two remaining animatronics. Foxy was peeking out from his curtain in Pirate Cove, indicating that he would be on the move relatively soon. Freddy, thankfully, seemed to be amusing himself by staring into the camera at the end of the east hallway, though that meant he was pretty close to the office, which was never a good thing. The camera would hopefully keep him occupied long enough for Mike to slip into the room with him and pull the power module from his system.

Pushing the camera control panel off to the side, Mike got up from the desk chair and peeked into the right hallway. With the occasional flicker of light from one of the overhead lights illuminating the hallway, Mike was able to spy Freddy down at the end of the hall. Freddy was always the most difficult one to deal with, as he didn't have many tells like the other characters did. The robotic bear was, amazingly, quite stealthy, being able to slide through the restaurant without making so much as a peep. He was going to have to emulate that in order to take down the titular character.

Much like he had done with Chica and Bonnie, Mike was able to quickly remove the power module from the animatronic before the mascot had a chance to retaliate. Holding the third power module in his hand, it almost seemed too easy. The moment that thought crossed his mind, Mike immediately wished it hadn't.

Hearing loud and clunky footsteps thundering down the hall across the security office, Mike's head whipped over his shoulder. Foxy was coming. Not good, not good, not good. Practically diving in a superman pose into the security office, he barely managed to slam the door down in time to prevent Foxy from entering into the office with him. The pounding on the door matched the pounding of his heart in his chest. Falling back against the door, Mike slid down to the floor, bouncing slightly against the reverberation of the pirate fox's powerful punches.

Just as soon as it began, the banging stopped. Foxy had given up his attempt to get into the office and was planning on returning to Pirate Cove. Now was Mike's chance to remove the final power module and disable the last animatronic in this location.

Hitting the button to release the door to the left hallway, Mike got up and rushed out the right side. Foxy, if his footsteps were any indication over the past couple of nights, tended to walk back to Pirate Cove after attempting to gain access into the security office. That presented Mike with an opportunity to intercept the pirate fox before the animatronic in question could get away and before his shift was over. The speed in which he was running to round the corner to reach the hall that connected the east and west hallways caused Mike to skid as he attempted to hang a left to get to Foxy. Regaining his balance, he continued forward, reaching the left hallway about the same time that Foxy did.

The pirate fox always tended to be twitchy and more sensitive to human presence than the rest of the animatronics, so it was unfortunate but not surprising that Foxy sensed Mike as he approached. Foxy stopped mid-step, causing Mike to do the same. Slowly, Foxy turned his head and his ghostly white eyes glared down the hall. Mike pressed himself up against the wall as much as possible to avoid being seen by the animatronic. Trying to blend in with his surroundings, however, didn't work and Foxy spied him.

"Arr, Matey!" Foxy's voice box acknowledged that the pirate fox knew he was there. "I know ye be hidin' out, matey! Ye be in deep waters! Ye be forced to walk the plank when I catch ye!"

Pure terror coursed through Mike upon hearing Foxy's voice. It wasn't the voice that scared him; it was the words that the voice spoke. Practically growing up in Freddy's and around all of the characters, and Foxy being his personal favorite, Mike knew them inside and out. Those phrases were not in Foxy's programming. Foxy was speaking to him directly, promising to kill him if he caught him.

Mike swallowed the softball sized lump that had magically formed in his throat. There was no going back now. He had to stop Foxy. Allowing the pirate fox to take a few steps closer to him, Mike waited until the animatronic was close enough to leave his spot on the wall and make a mad dash to remove the power module. Foxy, however, had other ideas. As Mike tried to deke him, Foxy reached out with his hook and caught him in the leg. Mike let out a painful yelp as he crashed to the ground.

The hook managed to tear a slice in his pant leg, cutting deep enough through the material to strike his flesh. Wincing, Mike had only seconds to ascertain the damage to his leg before Foxy began to turn around to finish the job. He did his best to get up, his right leg buckling slightly from pain as he tried to put weight on it. Managing to get to his feet, Mike hobbled as quickly as physically possible to get behind Foxy and pull out the power module. Foxy, sensing Mike behind him, tried to swing at him again with his sharp hook, but Mike pulled the power module out just in time, stopping the hook in place mere inches from his body.

With Foxy deactivated, Mike looked down at the power module in his hand before the pain in his leg overwhelmed him and he collapsed to the ground. He'd done it. All of the animatronics had been deactivated. Now all he had to do, after doing a quick patch job on the gash in his leg, was survive until the end of the shift.


	24. What Now?

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.** I did meet Scott Cawthon in a dream once though. He gave me some free FNaf swag in it :)

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 19: What Now?

By the time he reached Jeremy's door at around 6:30 that morning after completing his shift for the seventh night, Mike was starting to feel weak and woozy. The blood loss he had experienced from the gash in his leg from Foxy's hook had taken its toll physically. Leaning against the door frame, his head against the cool surface of the wood, Mike nearly tumbled into Jeremy's apartment when the blond man opened the door.

"Jeez, Mike!" Jeremy managed to catch Mike before he fell on the floor. "What the hell happened to you?!"

With Jeremy's help, Mike made it to the couch, where he collapsed.

"Foxy," Mike's breaths were labored and he was sweating. "Foxy happened."

Jeremy disappeared from his living room momentarily, returning with a first aid kit that he had stored in the medicine cabinet in his bathroom. He propped Mike's leg up on the coffee table and began to check it out.

"This is really bad, Mikey," Jeremy murmured, tearing his friend's pant leg an additional couple of inches to where Foxy made the initial tear in the fabric in order to check the wound. "I can patch it up but you're going to need to go to the hospital. Did you tell your mom?"

"No and I'm not going to," Mike said. "She can't find out that I've been working at Freddy's for the past week."

Jeremy looked up at his friend with a frown.

"Then where the hell does she think you've been?" he questioned.

"I told her I got a part time job at a pizza place," Mike replied. "It's kind of the truth. I just never told her _which_ pizza place."

Jeremy sighed and shook his head before returning his attention to the gash. Mike winced as his friend cleaned off the blood and flushed it with some hydrogen peroxide to kill any bacteria that may have found its way into the wound.

"Mikey, seriously, you're going to the emergency room; this needs stitches and I do _not_ have a sewing kit to do it myself, before you ask," Jeremy said flatly.

Mike let out a huff. Jeremy was probably right and, quite frankly, he was much too tired to argue with the man.

"Fine. Just let me sit here for a few minutes," Mike replied.

Jeremy cleaned up the mess of medical supplies and waste and returned the first aid kit to the bathroom. He came back in to the living room and took a seat down on the armchair.

"So what happened?" Jeremy asked after a few moments. "Why did Foxy attack you?"

Mike used a shaky hand to fish around in his pocket for some of the power modules he'd taken from Freddy and his friends. He held them out for Jeremy to see.

"Is that...a power module?" Jeremy questioned, inching forward to the edge of his seat to see the objects in Mike's hand a little better.

"Yeah," Mike confirmed. "I got them all. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy...they're all deactivated."

Jeremy's eyes flashed with excitement and relief.

"Holy shit, Mikey, that's great-"

Mike lifted his head up off the back of the couch and looked directly at his friend.

"That's not all," he said, causing Jeremy to stop mid-sentence. "I opened up the suits to see what was inside, you know, besides the mechanical parts..."

Jeremy was almost afraid to ask, but curiosity got the best of him.

"And?"

It took Mike a few moments to respond, as the words to describe what he had seen failed him. He blinked quickly and repeatedly to keep the impending tears at bay.

"I found bones fragments...and some tufts of hair..." Mike replied quietly.

In times of stress or when he would become extremely upset (which, thankfully, was pretty rare), the effects of the Bite of '87 would make themselves known. Now was one of those times. Jeremy's brain seemed to suffer some sort of "reboot," causing him to temporarily forget how to function. He couldn't speak; his hands, fingers and arms seemed to develop minds of their own. He resembled an animatronic with a system glitch.

Mike, with a grimace, heaved himself up off the couch and hobbled into the kitchen to fetch some water for his friend. He handed the cup to Jeremy, who stared at it like it was something he'd never laid eyes on before. Mike helped Jeremy lift the cup to his lips and drink the water, hoping to calm him down.

"Th-th-thanks..." Jeremy finally managed to say after awhile.

Mike made his way back over to the couch, relieved to have Jeremy slowly returning to normal.

"Sorry to drop that bombshell on you, Jer," he said, feeling guilty about causing his friend to have an episode.

Jeremy slowly, mechanically, like an animatronic, shook his head.

"Nnn-no, it's ff-fine," he tried to assure Mike. "I knew t-those... _things_...were dangerous after what they did to me, but I was not expecting that. It was just kind of a shock..."

"No shit," Mike agreed.

He rested his head back against the top of the couch again and let out a slow breath.

"So, what now?" Jeremy questioned.

"I was, uh, kind of, you know, hoping you could help me with that..." Mike admitted. "Since I technically tampered with the animatronics, which is against company policy unless authorized to do so (which I'm not, obviously), I was fired as I limped out the door this morning. Plus, I think they really wanted me to get the hell off the property so they didn't have another lawsuit on their hands..."

Jeremy gave his friend a nod in agreement and understanding. That last fact wouldn't surprise him one bit after what happened to him a few years ago.

"What did your dad's note say again?" Jeremy stood up from the chair to fetch the letter from William Afton, which he agreed to keep hidden at his apartment so Mike's mom wouldn't stumble across it.

He took a few steps forward before his blond brows furrowed together. Now, just where the hell did he put it?

"In the cabinet, Jer," Mike said from the couch. "You put it with your other important documents so you wouldn't accidentally throw it out."

That seemed to turn a light on in Jeremy's brain and he headed over to the computer cabinet against the west wall of his apartment and began rummaging through it, eventually producing the letter. He skimmed the contents.

"Your dad talks about Circus Baby's Pizza World," Jeremy pointed out. "Do you know anything about that place?"

"Yeah, a little bit," Mike confirmed. "Circus Baby's Pizza World is the sister location of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria. My dad created a robotics company, Afton Robotics, where he and his business partner would build and maintain the animatronics they invented and put together. I don't know all of the details like I do with Freddy's because Circus Baby's really came about after Lukas died and, well, you know, things from that time are kind of fuzzy."

"The letter also says that your dad thinks that Elyse was killed by Circus Baby; we'll have to do some research into those characters since it seems like neither one of us knows much about them if we want to even have a chance to find out what happened to your sister."

Mike gave a nod of agreement to his friend.

"As much as I hate the man for what he did," he commented. "I wish he was here so I could get some guidance from him. He'd know what to do to deactivate the animatronics."

"Maybe his plans and blueprints are still around," Jeremy suggested. "I mean, you managed to find the ones for Freddy and friends, so who's to say that those plans aren't somewhere in your dad's things, too?"

"Good point," Mike said thoughtfully. "I'll definitely see if I can find the plans for the Circus Baby animatronics. But, in the meantime, we have something a little more pressing to deal with."

"Like what?"

"What the hell am I going to tell my mom about the bleeding gash on my leg?!"

Jeremy chuckled.

"Sorry, man," he said. "You're on your own with that one."


	25. Proof Positive

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 20: Proof Positive

Over the next few weeks, Mike spent a great deal of time at his father's old house, searching through all of the plans and blueprints he could find for the animatronics at Circus Baby's Pizza World. The gash in his leg had healed enough that he had normal function of his leg, though it was still sore and it had a nasty scar coming in (he told his mother it was a 'work accident', which she had a hard time believing, though it was technically the truth, just not the whole truth). Jeremy assisted Mike in making sense of the plans and notes, as well as the details of the Afton Robotics lab.

"Okay, so, it seems that the animatronics are taken to a repair facility each night after Circus Baby's closes down for the night," Jeremy read over some papers he and Mike had spread out across the wooden floors of his apartment.

"The robotics lab," Mike said. "I remember my dad saying something about each animatronic having its own room type thing."

"Yeah..." Jeremy mumbled as he skimmed the plans. "Oh, here we go. So, there's, like you said, different areas that were specially designed to suit each animatronic. There's the Funtime Auditorium for Funtime Foxy, Ballora Gallery for Ballora and her little mini ballerina things and the Circus Gallery for Circus Baby and her little...whatever they are...It seems like each one is accessible through a Primary Control Module which, in turn, is only accessible via an elevator."

"I'm going to guess that the elevator to the Primary Control Module is only accessible to employees," Mike said with a sigh.

"Probably," Jeremy agreed. "I mean, it's not like the company would want just anyone to walk into its death factory."

"Getting in is the easy part. Getting out is another story,"

"No kidding."

Mike returned his attention to the plans of the various animatronics. The mechanism to open the character suits to gain access to the power modules was far more complicated than that of Freddy and friends. It didn't seem like something that he could just sneak into the factory, take them apart and then slip away into the darkness with no one noticing. Mike sighed. He was going to have to find a way inside.

Mike yawned sleepily as he made his way to the kitchen. He got home late from Jeremy's apartment the previous evening and then proceeded to spend majority of the night doing more research into Circus Baby's Pizza World and Circus Baby Entertainment and Rentals. Rubbing a hand over his face, his mother gave a slight chuckle at his disheveled appearance as Mike headed to the refrigerator.

"Mikey! You look like you haven't slept in days," Diana remarked to her son. "Are you and Jeremy spending all your time out partying?"

Mike gave his mother a small smile.

"Yeah, I wish," he said. "No, just a lot to think about."

"Anything you want to talk about, honey? You know I'm here for you."

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, though."

"Oh," Diana rose from where she had been sitting at the kitchen table and joined her son over by the counter. "This came for you in the mail this morning."

She handed him a white envelope that had only his name written across it. It reminded Mike of the note he received from his father on his birthday.

"Who's it from?" he asked with a frown as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"I don't know," Diana replied. "I was sorting through the mail before you came downstairs and found this mixed in with some junk mail. There's no name on it for a return address. I wonder if it's anything like the one you got on your birthday. Who did you say that was from? Uncle Jimmy?"

"Uh, yeah, that must be it. You know Uncle Jimmy," Mike tried to remain nonchalant, hoping his mother would buy the act.

Diana eyed him suspiciously for a moment but figured that she would let it slide for the time being and handed him the letter.

"I've got to run some errands," she stood on her tiptoes to give her son a quick peck on the cheek. "There's some leftover pizza from the other night if you get hungry. I'll see you tonight; I'll pick something up for dinner for the two of us. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do. Thanks, Mom."

Mike waited just long enough for the door to close before dashing up the stairs to his room to change his clothes. While rapidly exchanging his pajamas for a t-shirt and jeans, he called Jeremy.

"Dude, you need to get over here as soon as you can," he instructed as he juggled the phone while attempting to slip on his jeans.

"I can be there in about twenty minutes," Jeremy replied. "Everything okay, Mikey? You sound like you've been running from Freddy all night."

"Two things: one, that's not funny. And two, I got another letter. You know, a _letter_ ," Mike emphasized the last word to stress its importance to his friend over the phone.

"No, you don't mean..."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"I'll be right there," Jeremy said before ending the call.

True to his word, Jeremy arrived at Mike's house about twenty minutes later.

"My mom's not going to be back until tonight," Mike was breathless in his anticipation of devouring the note. "So, we can read over the note without having to hide it."

Jeremy nodded in understanding as he followed his friend from the front door and into the kitchen. The pristine white envelope sat on the table, waiting to be opened. Somewhat nervously, Mike reached for the envelope, almost afraid to open it and see what horrors were waiting inside for him this time. Not wanting to prolong his agony (or Jeremy's) any longer, Mike opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

 _Dearest Michael,_

 _I am so very proud of you. I know how you risked life and limb to save those children and I am so very grateful for your selflessness. Not only that, but you managed to close down yet another Freddy's, which was something that I desperately wanted to do and was part of why I did what I did. Thank you, Michael, thank you._

Mike looked up from the letter and turned his attention to Jeremy, who had been reading along with him.

"Jer," his voice cracked from the heavy emotional toll the letter was already having on him. "He knows. He knows!"

"But how?" Jeremy was at a loss for words and it was not due to his medical issues. "I thought you said your father was dead?"

"I did," Mike read over the first paragraph again and again. "That's what I was told, at least. I mean, he just disappeared one night. No one knew what happened to him, so I guess that everyone just assumed he was dead! But he's not! He knows about me going into Freddy's and deactivating the animatronics and also that location closing down. That just happened! It's proof positive he's alive!"

"But where is he?" Jeremy wondered aloud.

Mike paused.

"Um, well, I don't quite know...but still, this is a good start. My father is alive. I can find him!" he said.

"What else does the note say?"

 _But it's not over yet. There is still more work to do and, my son, it must fall to you to continue righting my wrongs. Your sister, sweet little Elyse-I know you have been researching how to deactivate Circus Baby and her friends in order to save her. Please do it. I will arrange for you to secure employment with Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals so that you may gain access to the robotics facility. That would be the best place to deactivate the animatronics._

 _But Baby is a bit of special case. After what happened to Elyse, I immediately had Baby decommissioned. I...I didn't want that to ever happen again. But, I didn't know about the souls of the children residing in the animatronic costumes, so I didn't take Baby apart. Instead, I kept her together and...well, it doesn't matter because it doesn't change the fact that she is still there. Save her, Michael. Save her..._

"Well," Jeremy said with an uncomfortable laugh after finishing the letter. "I guess you're going back to work."

"Yeah, I guess so,"


	26. Nuts, Bolts and Screws

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** _Chapter 21: Nuts, Bolts and Screws_

Just like the note from his father said, Mike was instantly granted employment at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. No questions asked, just "be here at midnight." And so, just before midnight a few nights later, Mike arrived at the underground robotics lab.

Stepping into the elevator to take him down to the facility, Mike couldn't deny the feelings of dread and some deja vu that struck him as the elevator doors closed with a resounding thud. He made it out alive once after fighting off the animatronics; was a second time pushing his luck?

"How do I get myself into these situations?" he sighed as the elevator hummed as it began its descent.

" _Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career..."_

Mike jumped at the silence suddenly being replaced by an artificial sounding voice. Popping out in front of him was a thick yellow handheld device. Mike's eyes were instantly drawn to the white label on the top left hand corner of the device's plastic outer casing. It read "Mike."

"Huh," Mike let out a small laugh. "Did you do this, Dad? Is this a small sign to tell me you're still alive somewhere?"

Knowing that William could not answer him, he pushed those thoughts aside and turned his attention back to the hand unit.

"... _Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities."_

"What, I guess being instructed to come and work here by your serial killer father to free the souls of the children he murdered and save the spirit of your sibling wasn't a common enough answer?" Mike snarkily murmured to himself in reply to the welcome message's list of methods in which the job was taken by the employee.

Hand Unit, however, continued forward with its programming.

" _Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful_."

Attempting to enter his name, Mike encountered some difficulty as a result of the tremors and jolts from the elevator's movement causing unsteadiness.

" _It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict."_

Despite the fact that Mike knew he was probably going to be referred to as a breakfast dish during his tenure in the facility, a smile appeared on his lips. Eggs benedict; that brought back some memories. It was a meal that his father enjoyed and he would make it special for Lukas and him on Sunday mornings. It was probably just a fluke that Hand Unit was referring to him by such a name but, nonetheless, it struck a familiar chord with Mike.

 _"You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let's get to work!_ "

Letting out a slow breath, Mike did as Hand Unit instructed and pressed the red button to open the elevator doors and grant him access into the facility. What lay before him was a small vent-like opening. Mike frowned.

"I'm supposed to crawl through _that?!_ " he remarked.

It was a rather tight fight, making Mike thankful that he was not claustrophobic. The tunnel seemed endless, with no light at the end.

 _"Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter..."_ Hand Unit suddenly blurted out amidst the metallic pounding caused by Mike's knees and elbows hitting the metal of the tunnel as he progressed through the vent.

"Oh, this oughta be good," Mike muttered.

" _Due to the massive success and even more-so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children's entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning..."_

Mike rolled his eyes. So, that was the story the company was feeding the world? What a bunch of bull. Then again, it was probably better than stating what really happened to cause the close of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

After crawling through the darkness for what seemed like ages, the darkness lightened up ever so slightly, indicating that Mike had reached the end of it. Stepping out into the room, Mike got to his feet and stretched his cramped muscles.

 _"You are now in the Primary Control Module. It's actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms,"_ Hand Unit continued.

Mike glanced around the Primary Control Module. It wasn't anything entirely special or terrifying (Mike was grateful for the latter). The room was smaller than his bedroom and was bathed in a sick, greenish/yellowish light. To his left and to his right were several large picture windows, though he could not see out of them due to the darkness looking back at him on the other side of the walls. The room was obviously not very well maintained, with poor lighting and wires and machine parts scattered across the ground. There appeared to be three additional vent-like tunnels leading out of the Primary Control Module in addition to the one he entered through. Mike was sad to say that he almost kind of missed the security office from Freddy's.

 _"Now, lets get started with your daily tasks,"_ Hand Unit's voice drew him back from his observations. _"View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left."_

"Keypad, keypad," Mike murmured, looking over to his left. "Ah, there it is."

Carefully stepping over some wires, he headed over to the elevated keypad and pressed the blue button. Doing so illuminated the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio. The stage where Mike assumed Ballora would be, however, was empty. He couldn't deny the chill that shot through his body at the thought of an animatronic on the loose in the facility. The scar on Mike's leg, courtesy of Foxy, began to throb in rhythm with his heartbeat.

 _"Uh-oh, it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step."_

"Say what?" Mike asked aloud. "A controlled shock?"

His eyes drifted down from the blue button to the red one below it. It was marked with a simple yellow lightning bolt. Somewhat reluctantly, Mike pressed the button and a shock was delivered.

 _"Let's check the light again,_ " Hand Unit told Mike, which he did. _"Excellent. Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right. This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light, let's see what Funtime Foxy is up to."_

Stepping away from the left elevated keypad, Mike couldn't help but feel a tinge of remorse at what, by all accounts, seemed to be a painful electric shock issued to Ballora. After carefully making his way over to the other side of the Primary Control Module, he threw a quick glance over his shoulder toward the Ballora Gallery and Party Room. Of course, without the light to illuminate the room, he couldn't see anything.

"They're just robots, Mike," he tried to remind himself. "Your father built them. He built them with nuts, bolts, screws, metal and plastic."

Shaking his head, Mike looked down at the elevated keypad and clicked the button to activate the Funtime Auditorium light. No Funtime Foxy in sight.

 _"Looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let's motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock."_

Great. Another controlled shock. Wincing as he did so, Mike clicked the red button, followed by the blue one again.

 _"Let's try another controlled shock."_

Mike let out an annoyed huff. Even though the animatronics at Freddy's had, essentially, tried to murder him, he still felt bad about causing them pain. Then again, he tried to remind himself yet again, they were only nuts, bolts, screws, metal and plastic.

 _"Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order, great job! In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module."_

Circus Baby. Mike's heart began to flutter as he knew he was finally going to be face to face with the animatronic that murdered his sister. With shaky hands, he got down on his hands and knees and began traversing the vent toward the Circus Gallery.

 _"On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby's Auditorium. Let's check the light, and see what Baby is up to,"_ Hand Unit announced when Mike finally reached the opposite end of the vent.

Just like before, he headed over to the elevated keypad and pressed the blue button. The lights on the opposite side of the glass seemed to short out, causing it to rain amber sparks. With what little light there was, Mike found no Baby in the auditorium.

 _"Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later. Let's encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock."_

Though he felt bad about it before, Mike felt absolutely uncomfortable at this request. If his sister was really inside of Baby, then he would be issuing an electric shock, in essence, to her as well, wouldn't he?

"No..." he said quietly. "I...I can't do that..."

Having not sensed any movement, Hand Unit repeated its last request. Eyes glued shut, Mike reached out one finger and tapped the red button to deliver the shock. Nervously opening up one eye, he tried to turn on the light in the auditorium again but still saw nothing.

 _"Let's try another controlled shock."_

A reluctant press of the red button.

 _"Let's try another controlled shock."_

Another reluctant press of the red button.

 _"Great job Circus Baby, we knew we could count on you! That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don't want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we'll see you again tomorrow."_

Though there was no Circus Baby on stage, Hand Unit seemed to think so and finished up with its programming. With Hand Unit seemingly offline, Mike took one last quick peek into the Circus Baby Auditorium.

"Where are you, Elyse?" he whispered.

Releasing the blue button, Mike made his way back through the vent.


	27. The Real Story

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 22: The Real Story

The second night on the job had a little more excitement than he had hoped, but, after spending so much time around homicidal animatronics, it wasn't anything Mike couldn't handle. Being hunted by some annoying little Bidybabs really didn't bother him; what did bother him was that "Baby," when she spoke to him after Hand Unit went down, said she didn't remember him. After finishing his tasks for the night and returning home, Mike headed straight to his room and over to the bookshelf next to his bed, pulling out a photo album. Flopping down on his bed, he opened up the book and skimmed through some pages until he found a picture of the three of them together: Lukas, Elyse and him.

With his fuzzy memories, Mike admittedly had forgotten how young his little sister was when she died. Elyse had been younger than Lukas. It was no wonder that she didn't remember him. Plus, after the whole incident with Lukas, his mother really didn't let him see his father and, subsequently, though not intentionally, his sister, since she lived with William.

But, maybe, deep down she did feel some inkling of a familial connection. Baby did help him to survive the night when the Bidybabs tried to get to him by instructing him to hide under the desk in the Circus Baby Auditorium and again when he needed to cross through Ballora Gallery by guiding him on when to stop and when to keep going. Closing the book and putting it aside, Mike fell back on his bed and closed his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, she remembered...

The third night at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals started off just like the previous two nights, with Hand Unit so cheerily reminding Mike that he should rethink his life choices since there was a high risk of death associated with his chosen career path.

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder," he muttered as he stepped out of the elevator and began to crawl through the vent toward the Primary Control Module.

In the Primary Control Module, Hand Unit continued sharing the warm and uplifting news.

 _"_ _Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today's shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform. It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy's power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow six to eight weeks for recovery and physical therapy,"_ Mike rolled his eyes at this. " _You will need to reach the Parts and Service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let's check on Ballora first, and make sure she's on her stage."_

Mike was relieved that he didn't have to issue a shock to the animatronics. At least that was one good thing about this night so far.

 _"Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery. Let's check on Funtime Foxy. It's important to make sure she's on her stage before entering."_

Moving over to the opposite side of the Primary Control Module, Mike repeated his actions with the elevated keypad, checking in on Funtime Foxy.

 _"Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Baby tonight; please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium."_

Mike got down on his hands and knees, preparing to enter the vent leading to Funtime Auditorium but stopped before he could do so. He took a quick glance at his wrist watch. There was still plenty of time to head into Funtime Auditorium, Mike considered. Carefully and quietly crawling over to the other vent, he made his way into what Hand Unit called an "unauthorized area."

Standing up and dusting himself off a bit, Mike looked around the room.

"Psst! Baby!" he called out in a voice barely above a whisper. "It's me, Michael! Are you here? Can you talk to me?"

It was silent for a few moments and Mike considered turning around and leaving, but Baby finally spoke to him.

 _"Did you know that I was on stage once? It wasn't for very long.. only one day. What a wonderful day, though. I was in a small room with balloons and a few tables. No-one sat at the tables though, but children would run in and out. Some were afraid of me, others enjoyed my songs."_

A chill shot through Mike's body. That day; she had to be talking about _that_ day.

"Keep going, Baby," he urged the empty room. "Tell me what really happened. I want to know the real story."

Sitting down on the cold metal floor, Mike waited for Baby to continue her story.

 _"Music was always coming from somewhere else...down a hall. I would always count the children, I'm not sure why. I was always acutely aware of how many there were in the room with me._ _Two, then three, then two, then three, then four, then two, then none. They usually played together in groups of two or three._ _I was covered in glitter. I smelled like birthday cake. There were two, then three, then five, then four."_

Mike listened intently, each word becoming permanently etched into his mind.

 _"I can do something special, did you know that? I can make ice cream - although I only did it once..."_

His sister excitedly told him over the phone one day about a new feature their father was working on in a new animatronic. _She can make ice cream, Mikey! Isn't that cool? We need to go see her and get ice cream! Won't that be fun, Mikey?_

 _"There were four, then three, then two, then one. Something happened when there was one. A little girl, standing by herself. I was no longer... myself. And I stopped singing."_

"Elyse..." he gasped to himself.

She had to be the little girl that Baby was talking about.

"What happened, Baby?" Mike questioned urgently. "Please tell me!"

 _"My stomach opened, and there was ice cream. I couldn't move, at least not until she stepped closer. There was screaming for a moment...but only for a moment. Then other children rushed in again, but they couldn't hear her over the sounds of their own excitement. I still hear her sometimes. Why did that happen?"_

Mike's heart pounded louder than Bonnie's footsteps as he would thunder down the hall toward the security office. So that's what really happened. It was an egregious tale to listen to but it was an important story to hear. Now he knew the truth about what happened to his sister.

 _"It seems you are taking a long time,"_ Hand Unit spoke up, causing Mike to jump. _"Please proceed through Funtime Auditorium to reach the Parts and Service Room."_

"Shit," Mike muttered himself.

He crawled over to the vent, pausing before entering it. Baby's words echoed through his mind.

"Thank you," Mike whispered. "Thank you for telling me what happened, Baby. I'll make things right. I promise."

Mike then made his way through the vent to return to the Primary Control Module.


	28. Hide and Seek

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.** Fun fact: I'm wearing a FNaF shirt as I'm uploading this chapter :)

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 23: Hide and Seek

Mike eventually made it back into the Primary Control Module and, from there, made it through Funtime Auditorium unscathed. A little shaken from a few close calls with Funtime Foxy, but otherwise unharmed. He completed his maintenance of Funtime Freddy and managed to snag the power module from the damn hand puppet, Bon Bon, who wouldn't stop moving, making things just that much more difficult.

"Ha!" Mike held up the power module from the mini rabbit triumphantly. "Suck that, Bonnie!"

" _Great job,"_ Hand Unit acknowledged his accomplishment. _"You've acquired both power modules. This completes your tasks for the night. Please exit the building through Funtime Auditorium, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow."_

The smile on Mike's face quickly faded when he figured he had to traverse Funtime Auditorium once again in order to leave for the night. With a sigh, he shoved the power modules in his pocket and then headed toward the door. Quietly and cautiously stepping out in to the darkness of the fox's domain, Mike did a quick flash of light from his beacon to check his surroundings. The coast clear, he carefully started his return trip to the Primary Control Module.

He could see the small bits of light emanating out from his destination. There was a soft green hue of light peeking out from underneath the door leading out of Funtime Auditorium. Mike's hand was inches away from the handle when it happened.

A blur of white, pink and silver...

A piercing scream...

Pulse racing...

Head pounding...

Darkness...

Nothingness...

…

…

…

...Waking up took some time. When he awoke, Mike was very disoriented and confused.

"Wh..." his voice still sounded a bit groggy. "Where am I?"

 _"_ _Shh, be still and quiet. You've been sleeping for quite awhile. I think they noticed that you never left the building last night,"_ Baby's voice filtered in from somewhere out there in the dark room.

"Elyse? Err, Baby? Is that you?" Mike questioned. "What's going on?!"

 _"The cameras were searching for you, but they couldn't find you. I have you hidden too well. I kidnapped you,"_ Baby explained.

"You what?!" Mike gasped.

His sister always did like to play hide and seek, but this was nothing like that. This game came with a high risk of death. For him, at least.

 _"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you. I am only going to keep you for a little while,"_ Baby replied, either purposely ignoring Mike's pleas or just simply not hearing them. _"Try not to wiggle, though. You're inside something that came from my old pizzeria. I don't think it was ever used, at least not the way it was meant to be used. Too dangerous. It's just big enough for one person to fit inside, but just barely."_

For the first time since waking up, Mike became cognizant of just exactly where he was. Taking a brief moment to look around him, he realized that he was in a suit. Not just any suit, but one of the old character costumes that his father used at the old Fredbear diner. Mike had been too young at the time to ever enter in to one of the suits but, based on what he remembered from when his father and Henry were constructing the suits, all indications pointed to the Spring Bonnie suit. This was the same suit his father mentioned he utilized in the murders of the children.

It was ironic, Mike very momentarily considered while he pondered his impending doom, that he would die in the Spring Bonnie suit while trying to save the children while his father used the suit to murder the children. This terrifying thought was pushed into the dark recesses of his mind as Baby continued speaking to him.

 _"You're in the Scooping Room,"_ she said. " _Do you know why they call it the Scooping Room? It's because, dummy, this is the room where they use the scooper. I thought that would be obvious. Isn't that a fun name for something? The scooper,"_

The scooper? Mike thought back to the plans for the underground facility in his father's office. The scooping room...! It was used to remove the endoskeletons from the costumes. Mike swallowed a huge lump that had formed in his throat at the thought. At this moment...he was the endoskeleton inside of the Spring Bonnie suit. Well shit.

 _"It sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard, or sprinkles. It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party to ensure that you get a heaping portion of every. Good. Thing,"_ Baby continued speaking about the scooping room.

"Okay, Baby," Mike tried to interject. "This has been fun and all, but I think it's time for me to go home now..."

Again, Baby either didn't hear him or didn't care.

 _"I wonder, though, if you were a freshly opened pint of ice cream, how you would feel about something with that name. Thankfully, I don't think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all,"_ Baby paused. _"Uh-oh. It sounds like someone else is in the building. Shh."_

Mike listened closely as two technicians chatted to each other, the face plates and mechanical parts of the costume obscuring his hearing somewhat so he couldn't make out the exact words the two men were exchanging. He didn't need to, however, as what happened next happened right before his eyes. A conveyor belt of sorts was activated and moments later, Ballora came in to view. A monstrous ice cream scooper looking thing suddenly darted out and struck the ballerina directly in the chest, retracting for a brief moment before repeating the process. Though he knew Ballora was composed of nuts, bolts and screws, Mike still flinched at each brutal attack and his heart hurt at the sight. Just as soon as the scooping began, it was all over and it left Ballora withered and broken.

 _"There is something very important that I've learned how to do over time, do you know what this is? How to pretend,"_ Baby's voice filled the agonizing silence that permeated every inch of the room. _"Do you ever play make believe? Pretend to be one way, when you are really the other? It's very important. Ballora never learns, but I do. They think there is something wrong on the inside. The only thing that matters is knowing. How. To. Pretend. I'll open the faceplates for you. That way they can find you on the cameras. Now all you have to do is wait. I'd recommend that you keep the springlocks wound up. Your breathing and your heartbeat are causing them to come loose. You don't want them to get too loose, trust me."_

Almost the exact moment that the face plates opened, the spring locks in the suit began to unwind. Shit, shit, shit. Not good, not good, not good. Mike was well aware of the dangers of the spring lock suits. He remembered hearing Scott record messages for the training tapes for the new employees back in Fazbear Entertainment's heyday, explicitly discussing the risks involved when donning one of the spring lock suits.

 _When using an animatronic as a suit, please ensure that the animatronic parts are tightly compressed and fastened by the spring locks located around the inside of the suit. It may take a few moments to position your head and torso between these parts in a manner where you can move and speak. Try not to nudge or press against any of the spring locks inside the suit. Do not touch the spring locks at any time. Do not breathe on the spring locks, as moisture may loosen them, and cause them to break loose. In the case of the spring-locks come loose while you are wearing the suit, please try to maneuver away from populated areas before bleeding out, as to not ruin the customers' experience._

But what about his experience?! Mike would certainly rather not bleed out while stuck in this forsaken suit. All he had to do was keep the spring locks wound, right? Of course not. There was always an added bonus while working at Freddy's and its affiliates. Ballora's miniatures, the Minireenas, came out to play.

"Seriously?!" he gasped at the sight of the little animatronics.

Mike wasn't certain how long this was going to keep happening, nor how long he could keep this charade up and, subsequently, himself alive. Wind spring locks. Shake off Minireenas. Wind up spring locks. Shake off more Minireenas. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Amidst the chaos of, essentially, fighting for his life, Mike hadn't heard the footsteps that descended the steps into the scooping room.

"Mike!" a man's voice called out. "Mike? Are you in here?"

"Jeremy?!" Mike swore he heard his friend's voice.

The Minireenas instantly scattered at the sound of the foreign voice. It had to be him.

"Jeremy! Over here!" Mike screamed to his friend. "In the suit! Hurry!"

Flashlight in hand, Jeremy hurried over to Mike. The latter walked him through the proper mechanics to help him escape the suit without activating the spring locks. When he was out, Mike practically fell to the ground, weak and exhausted from all of the adrenaline that had been previously coursing through his body now coming to a stop.

"Thanks, man," he smiled up at Jeremy weakly. "How'd...how'd you know?"

Jeremy helped Mike up to his feet, slinging one of Mike's arms over his shoulders to guide him out.

"Your mom called me. She was really worried when you didn't come home last night," he explained. "When she told me that, I immediately got worried and began looking for you."

As they headed up the steps to leave the scooping room, Jeremy threw a quick glance down at the empty costume and the broken one a few feet away from it.

"What the hell happened, Mike?" he asked.

"Let's just say Elyse and I played hide and seek," Mike replied. "And I lost."


	29. A Close Call

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 24-A Close Call

Hauling Mike back to his place, Jeremy helped his friend collapse on his couch, where the former instantly fell asleep, completely exhausted from essentially having to fight for his life for the past however many hours. Jeremy slipped away in to his bedroom and called Diana to assure her that her son was alive and well. Okay, alive, as "well" was probably not the truth at the moment, given his present state.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Diana's relief was audible. "Is he all right? What happened? Does he need anything? What-"

"Hold on, Ms. Schmidt," Jeremy interjected before the frantic mother could overwhelm him with too many questions.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Jeremy. I hope I didn't-"

"No, no, you're fine. So, Mike was saying that he...had to stay late at work. They were short staffed or something, I think he said. So, I brought Mike to my place and he's gonna crash on the couch for now, so don't worry."

"Thanks for being such a great friend, Jeremy," Diana said sincerely. "I really appreciate it. I'll drop off some fresh clothes for Mike and some money for dinner for the two of you. Thanks again."

"No problem,"

Mike was out for quite a while, waking up as the evening news was beginning its run on television. He yawned and stretched, rubbing his weary eyes. Blinking, Mike looked around and found Jeremy on the armchair across the way, watching TV.

"How long was I out?" he questioned Jeremy.

Jeremy looked over his shoulder at his friend. He chuckled lightly at his disheveled state.

"About ten hours," he replied. "Your mom dropped off some fresh clothes for you and some money for dinner. I already ordered pizza because, hey, can't go wrong there."

Mike looked down at his uniform. It was a mess. Thank goodness for his mother. Speaking of which...

"What did you tell my mom about what happened?" he asked as he stood from the couch, snagging the bag of clothes Diana had dropped off that Jeremy had left by the couch for him.

"I told her the truth, just without the gory details," Jeremy explained. "You technically _were_ short staffed, so I wasn't lying."

"Did she buy it?"

"Probably not, but I think she was too relieved that you were all right to really interrogate me on it,"

"Good. I can't tell her what really happened. She'd put me back in the psych ward," Mike shivered. "I am never going back there again. Never."

Jeremy gave his friend a single nod of understanding. Having been through his own medical traumas, he completely understood Mike's sentiment.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Jeremy questioned instead.

Mike, who was en route to the bathroom to change, stopped mid-step. Hand on the door frame, he turned his attention back to Jeremy.

"I have a job to do, Jer. I have to continue what I started," he said simply.

Jeremy frowned. He turned back to the television as Mike stepped into the bathroom to change.

"That's what I was afraid you'd say," he mumbled to himself.

When Mike emerged from the bathroom, Jeremy was in the kitchen serving the pizza, which had arrived a few minutes ago. Both grabbed a slice and then retired back to the living room to eat. Jeremy flipped the television from the news to another program, one which Mike was surprised to find his friend wanting to watch.

"Immortal and the Restless?" he asked with a laugh. "Since when do you watch soap operas?"

Jeremy laughed as well.

"When they're so bad they're good, I watch them," he replied. "Don't judge me."

"Hey, no arguments here. I'm always good with mind numbing TV," Mike stated.

The two friends enjoyed the distraction the television program provided, taking advantage of not having to think about Freddy's or Circus Baby's for at least a half an hour. Of course, once the program was over, there was little else they could do to delay the inevitable discussion.

"So, about Circus Baby's..." Jeremy began to say.

Mike stared down at his half-eaten slice of pizza, his appetite suddenly vanishing.

"What happened yesterday was pretty shitty, I get it. Believe me when I say that it was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me," he started to explain. "But, I don't think that it was with the intention to hurt me."

"Dude, they stuffed you in a spring lock suit. You know how deadly those things are."

"I know, I know. But, Baby...she spoke to me."

"She what?! She spoke to you?" Jeremy was genuinely surprised.

Mike nodded.

"Yeah. She's spoken to me quite a few times, actually," he informed his friend. "I...I got the whole story on what happened to Elyse. I was going to tell you after my shift yesterday but, you know, I got stuffed into a spring lock suit, which kind of put a damper on my plans,"

"Yeah, I guess a near death experience is kind of a bummer," Jeremy said sarcastically.

Mike gave his friend a wry smile.

"Anyway, Baby said she only wanted to keep me for a little while and that she wasn't going to hurt me. She said she only stuffed me in the suit because it would keep me hidden from the cameras so they wouldn't kick me out after my scheduled shift was over."

"Why did Baby want to keep you? Did she say why?"

Mike thought back to what the animatronic had told him the night before, concentrating carefully to sift through his hazy memories.

"She said something about playing make believe and pretending. Something about knowing how to play pretend; Ballora didn't know how, but she did."

"Make believe? Pretend?" Jeremy repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mike shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe I can find out when I go back-"

"Go back? Mike, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I mean, how many close calls have you had already? You're really pushing your luck, dude. I mean, who knows what would have happened if I hadn't found you when I did? Would those technicians who were supposed to come in the next morning and 'rescue' you know about the spring lock suits and how they operate? Since those suits were discontinued years ago, probably not and you know what that would have meant," Jeremy knew he needed to be honest with Mike. "I really don't think you should go back. I...I have a really bad feeling about you going back to Circus Baby's..."

Ever fiber in his being told Mike to listen to Jeremy. The man nearly died from Freddy and the other animatronics, not to mention Mike himself nearly died a few times over the past few weeks too. Plus, there was Lukas. And Elyse. They paid the ultimate price from a simple trip to Freddy's.

But, at the same time, Mike felt that he was really making a connection with Baby and the other animatronics. If he could make it one more night, he might be able to find a way to save Elyse and any other child that might be trapped in that hellish place as a result of his father's actions. Close call or not, he had to finish what he started.


	30. Fun and Games

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 25: Fun and Games

With a sigh, Mike stepped in to the elevator to descend down into the hell that was Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. He didn't know exactly why he ultimately decided to keep coming back night after night, ignorance, stupidity or something else all together. Regardless of the reason, Mike just hoped that he hadn't pushed his luck too far in escaping the all too common fate for his family at Freddy's and Baby's, death. There was only so many times luck would be on his side and someone like Jeremy would manage to save his ass in the nick of time or he would dodge an attack from an animatronic just in time to garner only a flesh wound, like when he survived a slash from Foxy back at the old pizzeria. Being stuck in a spring lock suit was pretty much a near death experience, though Baby probably didn't see it that way, and it was only a matter of time until the fun and games increased in their level of danger (if that was even possible).

As usual, Hand Unit was there to greet him as the elevator gears began grinding into action.

" _Welcome back to your last day on the job"_ the device announced in its standard cheery automated voice.

A shiver shot down Mike's spine.

" _That is, the last day of your first week!"_ Hand Unit continued, though the remainder of his message really did nothing to settle the uneasiness Mike was already experiencing. " _Some of the most valued qualities that we like to see in new employees are determination, fearlessness and a genuine disregard for instinctive self-preservation."_

"Tell me about it," he muttered in agreement.

" _Y_ _ou've earned your one-week bonus which will be given to you in the form of a delightful gift basket, the cost of which will be taken out of your next paycheck. We've gift-baskets containing fruit, nuts, flowers and of course the ever-popular cash-basket._ _Using the keypad below, please enter the first few letters of the gift basket you would like to receive,"_

Lifting a hand up to the keypad, Mike didn't even pretend to think that what he typed in was going to be what Hand Unit assumed he wanted, so he just randomly smacked some buttons for his own fun little game.

" _It seems you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you,"_ Mike snarkily mouthed the words that Hand Unit spoke, having become accustomed to this message over his past week of working at Circus Baby's. _"Thank you for selecting: Exotic Butters."_

Mike's response was a face palm. Exotic butters? Was that even a thing?

 _"Please be aware that there are still two technicians on-site today. Try to avoid interfering with their work if possible. Also, feel free to ask them why they are still there, and encourage them to go home."_

The elevator came to a stop and Mike exited the container, making his way through the tunnel to the Primary Control Module. Emerging from the crawl space, Hand Unit acknowledged his arrival.

 _"_ _Let's check on Ballora, and make sure she's on her stage,"_

Mike did as instructed and pressed the blue button to illuminate Ballora Gallery. What he was met with was the last thing he expected, causing him to recoil backward in shock, tripping over the wires and piping on the ground. Mike landed on the floor with a thud.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he was gasping for breath, his chest heaving.

Did he really see what he thought he saw? No, it couldn't be. Then again...

Cautiously, he crawled forward toward the elevated keypad and, ignoring Hand Unit's next set of instructions, nervously reached a hand out to hit the blue button again. Squinting anxiously, Mike remained on his knees, allowing him to just peer over the edge of the wall and into the gallery, he winced and held his breath as he tapped the button once more. Lighting up the room revealed the same image as before: the body of a technician swaying slightly as it hanged from a rope attached to one of the overhead beams in the ceiling.

Not sure if he was going to pass out or vomit (or both), Mike slowly turned, his back to the wall, and slid down until he was seated. Who, what, where, why, when, how? Every conceivable question popped into his head at once. No wonder the technician didn't leave; he _couldn't_ leave. That thought caused a deep frown to form on Mike's face. Wait...Hand Unit said there were TWO technicians still in the building. Shit. That's not good.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Mike whispered as he frantically darted across the room to the opposite elevated keypad.

Pressing the light to see into Funtime Auditorium, Mike was sadly greeted by the same sight as in Ballora Gallery. Both technicians were dead.

Yeah, that was not a good start to the night.

 _"Great! It looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium,"_ Hand Unit didn't seem to notice anything wrong with anything, continuing to issue out its instructions as normal. _"Your task today will involve more maintenance work. Circus Baby had a rough day, and is in need of repair. You will be required to reach the parts and service room by once again sneaking through Funtime Auditorium. As always, please proceed with caution.."_

It took quite a lot of convincing to get his body to move again after the horrid shock of seeing the bodies of the two technicians but, eventually, Mike forced himself to make his way through Funtime Auditorium. Making it to the Parts and Service room on the opposite side of the room, he was greeted by the sight of Baby slumped over on the conveyor belt.

"Elyse..." Mike let out a breath.

 _"Great job reaching parts and service! Circus Baby has been deactivated for an unknown reason. It is your job to ensure she is structurally stable and secured to the conveyor. Our technicians will take it from the-"_

Before Hand Unit could finish its statement, it was interrupted and replaced by a different but familiar voice.

 _"Can you hear me?"_ Baby's voice asked him.

"Baby? Elyse?" Mike asked in reponse. "I hear you. I need you to tell me what's going on!"

 _"I'm pretending. Remember how I said that I could pretend? The cameras are watching, I must be careful not to move,"_ the animatronic's voice explained.

"Okay, I get that, but you need to tell me what happened. Why..." Mike swallowed hard. "Why were those two technicians killed?"

 _"Something bad happened yesterday. Something bad always happens. I don't want it to happen again. There is something bad inside of me. I'm broken. I can't be fixed. I'm going to be taken to the Scooping Room soon, but it's not going to fix what's wrong with me. What is bad is always left behind..."_

"So, what do you want me to do?"

 _"Will you help me? I want you to save what is good so the rest can be destroyed and never recovered, but you must be careful."_

"How can I fix you, Elyse?" Mike pleaded. "Tell me what you need. I...I'm your big brother. I'm supposed to protect you. I...I know I didn't then, when this happened, but I'm here now."

Baby's answer to his question was not what he expected.

 _"Ballora is here, in the room with us._ _Ballora will not return to her stage._ _Ballora will not return to her body,"_ she informed him.

Mike nervously tried to look over his shoulder, but Baby continued speaking, as if trying to reassure him.

 _"You must be careful, you must remain calm and listen to my voice,"_ Mike gave Baby a nod in affirmation. _"There is a button on my cheek. You must find it and press it."_

He followed her directions.

 _"There is a passcode, that you must enter before you can retrieve me. Enter the code carefully. 3-4-7-4-1-5-2-2-0-3. Good, a hatch should have opened. Take the card that you find inside. Now you must turn back. I will guide you through Funtime Auditorium, so you can reach the Scooping Room. When you are there I want you to destroy this body."_

"How can you guide me?" Mike wondered aloud.

 _"Put the card into your handheld device and I can continue to speak to you."_ Baby explained.

Mike quickly did as Baby told him to and almost immediately, she continued speaking.

 _"Now, press the green button to your left. This will send me to the Scooping Room,"_ Mike pressed the button and Baby's suit began slowly trudging its way to the scooping room via the conveyor belt. _"You must follow my instructions in Funtime Auditorium. Ballora is going to follow you. She will try to catch you. I will help you avoid her. She will not follow you inside the Scooping Room. She is afraid."_

Heading to the door to leave the Parts and Service Room, Mike waited for Baby's instructions on how to progress.

 _"Go back now._ _Go forward._ _Stop._ _Go forward and left._ _You are almost there. Stop._ _She is right in front of you._ _Don't. Move."_

Don't worry, Mike thought, I wasn't going to. I'm...kinda frozen stiff...but whatever...

He listened silently as Baby confronted the other animatronic.

 _"He is here to help, Ballora. He is not here to hurt us. Ballora, he is here to help us,"_ Baby explained.

After a moment, his guide addressed him again.

" _Go forward again, Ballora is behind you,"_ Baby said. _"She is afraid of the Scooping Room, she will not follow you.."_

Reaching the door to the Scooping Room, Mike noticed a huge and brightly colored yellow warning sign on the passage into the room. For something in this place to be labeled as highly dangerous and have a warning on it, that really meant something. Mike wasn't sure he wanted to go inside but he figured he didn't have much of a choice.

Slipping inside, he recognized the room as the one where he had been stuffed into the spring lock suit the other night. That didn't help to make the room any less horrifying and unsettling, especially when he laid eyes on the dismantled parts of the various animatronics scattered across the floor beneath the scooper. Despite all the trouble they caused him, Mike couldn't help but feel a little saddened at seeing them in such a state.

 _""You are in the Scooping Room now. Funtime Foxy has already been here today. Funtime Freddy has already been here today. Ballora has already been here today."_

Mike's head snapped up at Baby's last statement. Wait...didn't Ballora just follow them through Funtime Auditorium? His eyebrows furrowed as he contemplated the situation. That didn't make any sense either. Why was Ballora in Funtime Auditorium? How was she following him when she was actually in the scooping room? How could she follow him when she had already been dismantled? Something was very wrong. Very, very wrong.

 _"Circus Baby has already been here today,"_ Baby's voice continued.

"Uh, no, Baby hasn't been here yet," Mike corrected somewhat nervously. "I just sent Baby here...what the hell?"

A brief flash of something in the window to the scooping room caught Mike's eye as he slowly backed away from the scooper. Was that...an animatronic? Quickly scanning the body parts lying in front of him, he took a rapid stock of who had already been to the scooper that day. There was Funtime Freddy, Funtime Foxy and Ballora, Baby's costume sat on the conveyor belt a little way off to his left. That accounted for all four of the animatronics...if they were all accounted for, then who the hell was that staring back at him?!

Mike didn't have much time to process the situation as that "thing" began to speak to him.

 _"I've been out before. But they always put me back. They always put us back inside. There is nowhere for us to hide here. There is nowhere to go, when we look like this. But if we looked like you... then we could hide. If we looked like you... then we would have somewhere to go."_

"Looked like me?" Mike repeated.

His question, however, fell on deaf ears.

 _"The scooper only hurts for a moment."_


	31. A Wrong Turn

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 26: A Wrong Turn

 _"The scooper only hurts for a moment..."_

It was by mere inches that Mike managed to avoid the scooper when he dove out of the way of the menacing metal arm shooting out to attack him. Hitting the tiled floor, he crawled as quickly as he could out of the scooper's reach, hiding against the wall in the corner of the room. Mike's chest was heaving as he attempted to breathe, pressing his back tightly against the wall.

"What are you doing?!" the words that left his mouth were shaky and coming out in gasps, making them hardly intelligible.

 _"_ _"We need you, so that we can look like you,"_ Baby, or whatever that _thing_ was standing outside the scooping room was, replied. _"We need you, so that we can leave. We need you, so that we can hide. We don't want to hurt anyone...But, we need you."_

Carefully peering back around the wall, Mike's eyes locked on to the scooper and found that the machine was not moving. He then turned his attention back to the large picture windows, searching for that mysterious animatronic that had been watching him earlier. The thing was gone. Now was his chance.

Tripping over his feet in an attempt to run out of the room, Mike was sure he probably beat some Olympic record with the speed he hit darting out of the door. He came to an immediate halt, however, when running out of the scooping room and hitting a wall of darkness face first. The way out and back to the Primary Control Module was through Funtime Auditorium, which was pitch black. Mike frantically searched his pockets for the flash beacon, but couldn't find it; it must have fallen off his person when he was trying to avoid the scooper. Then again, he probably didn't really need it as desperately as he first thought because Funtime Foxy had already been to the scooper that day and thus wasn't in the auditorium. The only issue remaining was to find his way through the dark room. If worst came to worst, he could always resort to hiding somewhere under the cloak of darkness the room offered.

Hands out in front of him, Mike blindly continued forward, trying to find the exit leading back to the Primary Control Module. Squinting his eyes, he could make out some sort of light coming out from where he assumed the exit door was, but it seemed miles away. He almost felt like it was going to take years to reach it, not minutes like he presumably had at present to escape whatever it was that was chasing him.

 _"Why didn't you trust me? Why didn't you trust me...?"_

Mike nearly tripped at the sudden sound of Baby speaking to him again. Regaining his composure (well, at least, as much of it as he could muster), he continued forward and Baby continued speaking.

 _"I thought you liked me..."_ the animatronic said. _"I thought I did everything right."_

"Everything right?" Mike whispered to himself.

What the hell was she talking about?

The light peeking out from beneath the Primary Control Module door seemed to finally be getting closer, but Mike came to a screeching halt when he spied a quick flash dart past it. Shit! That thing was here! Now where was he supposed to go?

Clenching his eyes shut, Mike mentally reviewed the blueprints from his father's documents, desperately searching for another way out. There was something...somewhere on one of the plans...a place that was only on one set of blueprints...a hidden room...maybe it was still there...

Not entirely sure where he was in Funtime Auditorium, Mike ran toward his right, hoping that the secret room he recalled seeing on the blueprints for the factory would be somewhere he could get to quickly. His hands came in to contact with a solid surface and he began grasping wildly in front of him, trying to locate a possible doorknob or key card slot. Reaching down, Mike felt his fingers slide over some plastic mechanism-the keycard slot! Swallowing hard, he brought his hand to his belt loop where he had attached his keys and keycards; thankfully, those hadn't fallen off when he was dodging the scooper. Mike managed to locate his key card and threw the door open, immediately turning and slamming the door shut by smacking the button on the keypad on the wall. He began to let out a shaky breath in relief, but once glance around the room caused that breath to hitch in his throat. Just where the heck was he?

 _"It seems that you have accidentally wandered into a restricted area,"_ Still on edge, Mike jumped at the sound of Hand Unit coming back on line. _"Due to the sensitive nature of the materials that you may be exposed to here, you will not be allowed to leave until the clean-up crew arrives at 6AM, so hang tight. Rest assured that you will be promptly rescued, fired, then sent home. Thank you for being an employee. We hope that your experience has not been as regrettable as ours."_

"Oh, great..." Mike moaned.

Left or right, forward or back; regardless of the direction, any way out of Funtime Auditorium was a wrong turn.


	32. Always Watching

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 27: Always Watching

It was with mixed feelings that Mike glanced around the hidden room he'd stumbled into while trying to avoid certain death in the scooping room from whatever that...thing...was. On one hand, he was safe (for the moment, at least), but, on the other hand, just where the hell was he? Could it possibly be a worse place than in the scooping room? One thing Mike definitely learned over the course of his excursions into Freddy's and Circus Baby's was that things could always get worse. In fact, it was something that should be expected. Things would always get worse.

According to Hand Unit, who was now giving him the silent treatment, Mike was stuck in wherever this place was. Since that was the case, he decided he might as well look around and get comfortable; it was only a little after midnight, so he had quite a few hours to kill (or be killed, though preferably the former...) until the morning shift workers would arrive and release him. Leaving the doorway, Mike shuffled into the room and took a look around. Immediately, he was reminded of the security office at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria. The monitors, the camera control panel, the red door buttons, the vent shafts, hell, even the damned desk fan was here. Mike frowned as he regarded his surroundings. It couldn't be a coincidence that this room was here and set up like this, but the question was who set it up and what purpose did it serve?

Cautiously sliding on to the desk chair, Mike observed the monitors. Flipping through the different camera feeds, he let out a shaky breath, relieved that nothing seemed to have followed him or was trying to get into the room with him. At least, for now.

 _"_ _You must... Let us... Inside...The room..."_ a voice called out to him.

Shit! That thing was following him! And it was trying to get in the room!

Taking a moment to close his eyes and let out a breath, Mike recalled his time at Freddy's. He survived this environment once and he could do it again. However, when he opened his eyes, Mike spied movement out of the corner of his left eye and turned his head accordingly to see what its origin was. He immediately wished he hadn't.

"WHAT THE HELL!" he shrieked, jumping as he tried to recoil away from the blue eye staring at him through the small window on the door.

His yell must have temporarily scared off the animatronic, as it disappeared from view just as quickly and mysteriously as it appeared. In the course of being scared shitless, Mike accidentally dropped the camera control panel from his hands, which landed on the floor a few feet in front of him. Carefully uncurling himself from the frightened ball he morphed into when the animatronic appeared, Mike scooped up the camera control panel and gave it a quick once over to make sure it wasn't cracked or damaged in anyway. It seemed okay, save for a few scratches from where it skittered across the floor when he flung it in his panic. Scrubbing some of the dirt and dust off of it, Mike's eyebrows furrowed when he noticed the monitors in the background changed from static to a very familiar looking image.

It was unmistakeable was he was seeing; Mike just couldn't believe his eyes. Clenching them shut, he waited a few seconds before reopening them and then reexamining the monitors. Much to his dismay, they all displayed the same images. One camera showed the hallway. The second camera monitored the bedroom, with its focus fixed on the closet. The third camera fell upon the bed, where a lone Fredbear plush sat waiting for its child owner to return. These three images combined made a house. Not just any house. They were from the house he shared with his father, William, and his brother, Lukas, before the latter died. Specifically, these camera angles displayed Lukas' bedroom and the hallway just outside of his room.

"He was here," Mike said in a voice barely above a whisper. "He was here. My father was here. In this room. In this very room."

His father had to have been here recently. He had to! These weren't old pictures of the room when Lukas was still alive, with toys and clothes scattered about. No, he knew for certain that these images were recent. When he had visited his old house to search for the plans and information for Freddy's and Circus Baby's, Mike brought along a toy Freddy he snagged from the pizzeria before it closed down to place in Lukas' room. Lukas almost always had a Freddy plush on his bed and, seeing the bedroom empty and without one, Mike thought it would be a nice little gesture in remembrance of his younger brother by placing a fresh new plush on the bed, where one had been for many years.

"He was always here, watching," Mike whispered. "He was always watching..."

That's how he knew about Mike's actions at Freddy's and the closure of the pizzeria. He must have seen him stopping by the house to look up the old plans and blueprints. As much as he wanted to reflect on this thought, Mike was unable to, as the animatronic that had been hunting him decided to resume their game of cat and mouse.

 _"We need you,"_ the animatronic continued to speak to him. _"so that we can look like you. We need you, so that we can leave. We need you, so that we can hide. We don't want to hurt anyone...But, we need you. "_

Need him? Look like him? Mike wasn't entirely sure what that meant (and he certainly did not want to find out) but he also didn't have the time to really contemplate it either.

 _"If they find us like this, we won't be able to try again. You must help us. You must let us inside the room. If they find us like this...We won't be able to try again..."_

This sequence of events repeated for some time, with the frequency and difficulty of Ennard's (Mike decided to call it Ennard based on the fact that it looked like the combination of all of the different animatronics' innards into one giant freaky and terrifying walking nightmare personified) attacks increasing as the time continued to progress. Ennard would talk to him periodically, most of which Mike was able to ignore while focusing on, well, not dying, at least, until Ennard's voice suddenly changed.

 _"Hello?"_

Mike's head jolted up from the camera control panel at the voice that permeated the room. It was Elyse's voice.

 _"Hellooo?"_ Ennard repeated, sounding identical to his deceased little sister.

"Elyse?" Mike responded to the voice, going against his better judgment.

 _"Everything is okay. I'm still here."_

"I know! That's why-"

 _"Isn't this why you came here? To be with me again?"_

"Yes, I came to save you," Mike confirmed.

 _"I know_ _it was an accident!"_ 'Elyse' continued speaking to him.

"It was all an accident," Mike agreed. "I heard your story, Elyse. I know what happened. It wasn't your fault at all."

 _"You have to let me inside the room!"_

Mike was pained at the pleading. He desperately wanted to give in and let Ennard in the room, but he knew that he couldn't do that because he would presumably die as a result. What good would that do anyone? It wouldn't help his mom, or Jeremy, or any of the kids that were still trapped in this hell hole. No; he needed to stay alive. He had to hang on for a little longer.

"I'm sorry, Elyse!" tears were threatening to fall as he spoke. "I...I can't let you in! I can't!"  
 _"I don't understand...I don't understand!"_ the young girl/animatronic was growing frustrated. _"We need you so that we can hide! We need you so that we can leave...!"_

With that declaration, the door on his left flew open and Mike did his best to defend himself, kicking his legs and swinging his fists wildly in his desperate last attempts of self-preservation.

"Ah! Dude! Stop hitting me! What the hell?"

The voice belonged to neither Ennard nor Elyse, so Mike paused his assault and took a look at who had joined him in the private room. Instead of being an animatronic like he expected, there were two Circus Baby employees standing in front of him. Mike threw a quick glance down at the camera control panel in his hands and found no trace of Ennard, not even an eyeball or a loose wire.

"Uh, sorry..." he let out a nervous laugh.

What the hell was he supposed to say to these guys? They worked the morning shift, so they most likely never saw the horrors of the animatronics come to life like he did working the night shift. They'd probably think he was mental and there was absolutely no way in hell that Mike was going to go back to the psychiatric center. No way, no how.

"Well, just don't start swinging when I pass on the message from the higher ups," the first worker said.

He fumbled around in the pocket of his employee uniform until he pulled out a piece of paper. The employee cleared his throat.

"Due to the sensitive nature of the information you may have encountered after wandering into a restricted area, your employment with Circus Baby Entertainment and Rentals has been terminated, effective immediately. You will now be removed from the premises, either civilly by being escorted by specially designated employees-that's us-or forcibly removed by the specially designated employees and/or law enforcement officials. If death occurred while in the restricted area, your body will be promptly disposed of and a missing person report will be filed within 90 days or when the property and/or premises has been thoroughly cleaned and bleached and the carpet and/or flooring has been replaced," the employee read. "Thank you for being an employee of Fazbear Entertainment. We hope your experience has not been as regrettable as ours."

"Oh, and here," the second employee said, shoving a box in Mike's hands.

"What's this?" he questioned.

"Your gift basket," the first employee replied. "All right. Now, let's go. We've got a lot of stuff to do. Have you seen Funtime Auditorium and Ballora Gallery recently? That's quite a workload."

"You have no idea," Mike murmured in agreement.

An employee on either side of him, Mike was led out of the private room and back through the facility in order to be kicked off of the premises. He sighed. Well, at least he wasn't going out in a body bag.


	33. Camouflage

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **A/N:** Over 10,000 views?! You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for supporting this story :)

* * *

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 28: Camouflage

Carrying his basket of exotic butters, Mike arrived home.

"Mom! I'm home!" he called out with a sigh.

Hearing no response from Diana, Mike placed his gift basket on top of the television and headed into the kitchen, where he found a note taped to the refrigerator.

 _Mikey,_

 _Kelly called in sick today, so I volunteered to pick up her shift.  
_ _I'll be home late. There's leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry  
_ _or you can order out-I left some money for you on the coffee table  
_ _in the living room._ _See you when I get home, sweetie._

 _Love, Mom_

Placing the note down on the kitchen table, he decided to poke around the kitchen to see if there was anything that would appeal to his appetite; after all he had seen that day, Mike decided that he really wasn't that hungry for either leftovers or any type of fast food. Actually, he wasn't really hungry to begin with. Instead, Mike decided to head upstairs to his room for a nap. Maybe his appetite would return after he had a chance to refresh.

His nap turned out to be more of a full on sleep, as opposed to just a quick snooze. When Mike woke up and made his way back downstairs, a peek through the window he passed by showed that the sun was already beginning to set. It was already late in the afternoon, probably close to five or six; he must have been more exhausted than he initially thought.

Mike yawned as he headed into the kitchen. He felt a little better after sleeping for a few hours and decided to make a little something for himself and watch some television. Checking the clock on the kitchen wall, Mike realized that his new guilty pleasure television show, Immortal and the Restless, was about to come on, so he hurriedly threw a popcorn bag in the microwave and then poured the buttery goodness into a bowl before reclining on the armchair in the living room. Flipping on the television, he made it just in time to catch the opening credits of the show.

The season finale of Immortal and the Restless didn't disappoint. Of course, it was with anxious excitement that Mike was left with after the episode ended on a cliffhanger, leaving some unanswered questions to kick off the next season of the show in a few months. While reaching for the remote on the coffee table in front of the recliner, Mike heard a metallic scraping sound emanating from somewhere in the house. Confused and somewhat alarmed, Mike slowly turned his head to peer over the edges of the recliner. The only thing he could do when he laid eyes on the source of the sound was freeze in a pure panic.

It was that _thing._

Ennard.

It had followed him home.

It got out of the facility and followed him home.

It was dragging itself into the living room of his house.

It was coming to get him.

Again.

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Mike pulled his legs up and curled up on the recliner as if it would somehow protect him from the mechanical monstrosity making its way toward him.

 _"_ _We need you,"_ Ennard repeated those same three words that it had said to him while he was fighting for his life in the private room at Circus Baby's.

Ennard must have slipped out of the facility when the two employees that had escorted him out after rescuing him from the private room had propped the doors open to dispove of the two bodies of the technicians that had been killed at Circus Baby's the previous evening. In all of the commotion of destroying the evidence of their deaths, Ennard took advantage of the distraction and vanished from the robotics lab and followed Mike home.

There was only one reason that Ennard would have gone through all that trouble to risk leaving Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals. It wanted to hide. By using his body as camouflage.

Ennard must have sensed that Mike was planning to flee. Before he even had a chance to react, Ennard had darted out at him and then everything went black. That was the last thing he remembered.

Cold.

Hard.

Pain.

Mike drifted in and out of consciousness. He knew he wasn't at home. It was dark. He was on a cold tile floor. His head hurt, the throbbing pain radiating through his entire body.

Metal clanking.

Gears whirring.

Machine humming.

The room he was in looked familiar, even despite the double vision Mike was experiencing in his disorientation. It was someplace in Circus Baby's. Someplace...bad.

 _"The scooper only hurts for a moment,"_


	34. The Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 29: The Aftermath

Something was very wrong. Jeremy couldn't put his finger on it, but something was very, very wrong. There was something different about Mike. His friend acted in the same manner he always did; that wasn't the problem. The issue was his appearance. Each day that passed since Mike was let go from Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals, the man began to look more and more sickly. Jeremy questioned his friend about the situation, but, much to his confusion, Mike insisted that he was well. Mike's words said one thing, but his appearance told a much different story.

It wasn't noticeable at first, just a minor change of Mike's skin color from its usual healthy tan-pinkish hue to a more pale tan shade. That wasn't all that extraordinary, since the winter weather, with the lack of sun and warmth, could cause one to look paler than usual. However, even as the winter's icy grasp faded and the weather slowly began to warm up, Mike's health seemingly continued to decay.

A few months later, Jeremy was visibly shocked by the changes in his friend. Mike showed up at his apartment to hang out one day and when Jeremy opened his door, his jaw actually dropped open in surprise. The man's blue eyes had darkened to the point that they were nearly black. His skin was no longer even close to being tan; it was now a brownish-olive shade. Not wanting to sound like a broken record, but genuinely concerned for his friend's welfare, Jeremy questioned Mike about it but, yet again, Mike assured him that he was just fine and dandy.

Diana grew extremely concerned over her son's welfare, which resulted in a bit of a blowout between the two. Mike became annoyed at his mother's consistent, as he put it, badgering of him regarding his wellbeing, so much so that he actually moved out, ending up in an apartment complex near Jeremy's. Jeremy did his best to smooth things over between parent and child, which worked to some extent, but Mike insisted on remaining out in his new apartment.

"Are you sure you can't go back and live with your mom?" Jeremy asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter in Mike's apartment.

Mike had given Jeremy a key to his new place, mostly due to the latter's insistence that he have one in case of an emergency, so he had used that to allow himself inside when Mike told him to come on in. Jeremy was waiting in the kitchen for Mike to come out so they could continue the topic of discussion that had been quite prevalent in all their conversations for the past few months: Mike's health.

"I've told you and my Mom like a million times," Mike called from the other room. "I can't go home. I have to stay here, by myself."

"And why do you _have_ to?" Jeremy continued to question.

Mike never gave him a straight answer to this question, no matter how many times he asked it.

"Do we really have to discuss this again, Jer?" Mike sounded tired and defeated, instantly causing worry to well up inside of Jeremy.

They were more than friends; they were like brothers.

"Yeah, we do. We're worried about you, Mike, both your mom and me. You look really, really sick-" the words died in Jeremy's throat as Mike emerged from the bedroom and he laid eyes on his friend. "Holy shit, Mike!"

Walking like a zombie, Mike was a mere shell of whom he was only a few months ago. His skin was becoming an even darker greenish-brown and his eyes were now completely black, save for the left eye, which had an eery white glow to it. Jeremy unconsciously recoiled back from Mike, unable to tear his gaze away.

"Dude. What. The. Hell." was all the blond man was able to get out.

"Do I look that bad?" Mike questioned earnestly.

Jeremy blinked.

"You're kidding, right?" he said with a small laugh.

One look at his friend's face told him otherwise. Mike truly did not know how terrible he appeared, not to mention the faint pungent odor emanating from him.

"Mike, I need you to be completely honest with me," Jeremy began to say.

He carefully made his way toward Mike, keeping his eyes on the man the entire time.

"There is something very, very wrong with you," Jeremy continued. "And I believe that you know what the cause of this...whatever it is...is. I need you to tell me. That's the only way that I can help you and your mom can help you-"

Mike shook his head, the motion sounding painful, almost like gears grinding in the animatronics if they made a similar movement.

"You can't tell my mom," he was adamant.

Jeremy held his hands up.

"Okay, I won't tell her," he assured Mike. "But I need you to at least tell me so that I can find a way to help you, dude."

"I don't think you can," Mike said quietly.

"Why not?"

The sickly man let out a sigh. He stumbled over to the couch and sat/collapsed down on to the cushions.

"It took me some time to figure it out," Mike started to say.

"Figure what out?" Jeremy eased himself into the connected living room, slipping into the armchair adjacent to the couch.

"What happened after I left Circus Baby's,"

"I'm listening," Jeremy gave his friend a nod, signaling for him to continue.

Mike relayed the events that happened to him the night he was fired from Circus Baby's, including Ennard and the animatronics needing his body for camouflage to slip out of the facility unnoticed permanently. Jeremy was horrified by what he heard but, much to his dismay, it all made sense.

"So, that, thing, is inside you?" Jeremy had difficulty getting the words out, and an even more difficult time comprehending the whole situation.

"That's the only explanation I can think of," Mike replied. "The last thing I remember was seeing Ennard slide into the living room at my mom's house. Everything went dark and the only thing I can recall after that is the occasional glimpse, which all happen to be related to Circus Baby's. They took me to the scooping room and, well, scooped me."

The stress of the situation caused Jeremy to begin to have another mental "reboot," and the man temporarily forgot how to function. Mike did his best to get up off the couch, head into the kitchen, grab a cup of water and bring it to his friend to help calm him down.

"Th-thank you," Jeremy finally was able to speak again after a few minutes.

He took a few deep breaths to settle his nerves before attempting to continue the discussion.

"Ss-so, what now?"

Mike shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted. "This isn't really something that I can go to the doctor for, you know? I don't think that there's many people out there that specialize in animatronic-part-removals,"

"Maybe you should go to a mechanic," Jeremy commented, trying to lighten the mood.

Mike chuckled, his laugh not sounding like his own, but more hollow and robotic. It shot yet another chill down Jeremy's spine.

"Um, this may be a little farfetched," Jeremy continued. "But, what about your dad? He might be able to figure something out. I mean, he and his business partner constructed all those animatronics, right?"

"You know? That's a really good idea," Mike said with a nod.

He paused.

"Jer? Can...," Mike seemed reluctant. "I'm not sure if I'm going to make it through this alive. If I don't, can you take care of my Mom? Make sure she's all right?"

Jeremy wanted to protest, but, instead opted for a single nod of agreement, the only response he deemed acceptable based on the intensity of the expression on his friend's face.

"Of course," he agreed quietly.

Jeremy hoped with every fiber in his being that it wouldn't come to that.


	35. The Stuff of Nightmares

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **A/N:** Whoa! What's this?! Posting early?! Yep. I'm taking a vacation from work and usually post my chapters on Sunday before my shift but, since I'll be off, I wasn't sure if I'd get to post or not, so I decided to do it today before I leave. Enjoy your early posting :)

* * *

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 30: The Stuff of Nightmares

Mike's decline was steady, but expected. As his body continued to decay from the robotic parts of the animatronics inside of him, Mike continued to shut himself off from the world, Jeremy quickly becoming his only link to the world outside of his apartment. He did whatever he could to help his ailing friend, including household chores, running errands, paying bills, etc. Jeremy was the only one who knew the true extent of Mike's problems, so there was no way he could abandon his friend in his time of need.

Of course, not leaving the house for such long periods of time definitely made Mike a bit stir crazy. It was during those moments of desperation that he would dare to venture outside. Mike usually didn't make it too far, as the stares, gasps and cries of those around him in response to his decrepit condition usually forced him to cut his excursions short.

Today was another one of those days. Anyone he passed by had an instant reaction to him. Some were in fear. Some were in complete shock. One guy actually ran to the nearest trash can to throw up. Catching his reflection in a window, Mike saw what he had become, something he had been refusing to do for quite some time now. His skin was a deep shade of purple, his eyes had a chilling white glow to them. Mike's movements were slow and pained, very zombie like. He looked like a monster, the stuff of nightmares.

It was in that moment that Mike felt as though he, too, was going to be sick. Making it only a few few from the window where he had seen himself, Mike's body began to tremor and he started to gag. The shaking continued, as did the need to evacuate whatever it was that was piling up in his throat. Eventually, after a few short minutes that felt more like several agonizing hours, Mike regurgitated the robotic parts that had been acting as a parasite in his body for some time. The parts tinked off of the sidewalk and spilled into the sewer via a nearby drain on the street. Mike had only a brief moment of relief before his body collapsed and he fell face first on to the concrete beneath his feet.

He was dead. He was sure of it.

"You won't die..."

Mike wasn't sure where the voice was coming from. Hell, he wasn't even sure that he actually heard the voice and that it wasn't some sort of delusion or hallucination.

"You won't die..."

There it was again.

"You won't die..."

And again. But this time was a little different than the others; the voice was clearer and Mike was fairly certain that he recognized the owner of the voice: Baby.

"You won't die..."

He won't die? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Mike hadn't the faintest idea what was happening when he felt his body begin to shudder and become mobile again. Before he realized it, he was standing again. He was alive...he was alive?! Somehow, some way, Mike was still alive. But, of course, his body relying on the animatronic parts within him for so long was severely weak and unstable, so he collapsed to the ground again. Now what was he going to do?

"Mike!" a familiar voice called out to him.

He didn't have to look at the owner of the voice to know instantly who it was: Jeremy. The blond had gotten worried when he stopped by Mike's apartment and did not find him there so he went out to go and search for him.

"Dude, are you all right?" Jeremy hurried over to his fallen friend, crouching down next to his body.

Mike opened his mouth to respond but no sound came out. Jeremy let out a breath. He then helped Mike up and acted as a crutch to help get him back to the apartment.


	36. Breaking and Entering

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 31: Breaking and Entering

Jeremy paced back and forth in the living room of Mike's apartment, the latter watching him, his glowing white eyes following his friend's every movement. Mike's body was more of a corpse at this point than an actual, living vessel; Jeremy wasn't sure on what to do, how to help Mike, etc. Honestly, he wasn't sure about much anymore.

"You obviously can't go around town like this," Jeremy murmured more to himself than to Mike. "Plus, I'm not sure how long you'll be able to stay in this apartment. I mean, if the landlord sees you, or smells you, I'm pretty sure you'll be kicked out and-"

"Jer," Mike tried to interject before his friend's affliction took over, trying to calm him.

Jeremy stopped, turning around to face Mike. It was painful to see him like that. If only there was some way to help him…

"Mike," Jeremy began to say, a plan beginning to formulate in his head. "What did Baby put you inside of in the scooping room?"

"A spare costume, Spring Bonnie," Mike replied. "You know, the one my father said he used to, well, um, commit his crimes..."

It was at this moment Mike began to come to the same conclusion that Jeremy had.

"You think that would work?" he asked. "Sticking me in a suit?"

Jeremy shrugged.

"Honestly, I have no idea, but our options are really limited, Mikey," he admitted. "If you're in the suit, you'll at least be able to function a little better."

Mike knew his friend was right. He was currently on the couch, pretty much a purple puddle, almost like a stuffed animal without its stuffing.

"All right," Mike agreed.

Jeremy gave Mike a single nod of acquiescence. Checking his watch, he saw that it was still early afternoon; he would have to wait until night fall to venture down to Circus Baby's.

With notes and plans from Mike on the layout of Circus Baby's, Jeremy drove out to the underground facility shortly after the clock struck eleven. Pulling into a space in the parking lot, he gazed up at the building. Its cheery and brightly colored sign, with balloons and confetti painted on it, was quite deceptive; it tried to hide the horrors that lay inside. Jeremy put up the hood of his black colored hoodie and exited his car, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made his way around the back toward the employee entrance. In the haste of getting Mike off the premises when he was fired after breaching the private room, the other employees never took Mike's key card, which would allow him into the building; it was with this key card that Jeremy was granted access into the facility.

"Okay," Jeremy pulled out some notes he'd written out from his hoodie pocket as he entered into the elevator.

Even though he'd been to the facility once before, to search for Mike when he didn't come home one night when Baby abducted him, Jeremy entered through the main guest entrance, which didn't show half of the deadly and eerie things that the employee entrance did, so coming in through the back was a new experience for him.

"Take the elevator down to the bottom floor and crawl through the vent into the Primary Control Module. To access the Parts and Services room, you will need to head through Funtime Auditorium," he continued reading. "This is one of the places that the suit may have been stored. If not, go back through Funtime Auditorium and turn right (if you're facing the Parts and Service room) toward the scooping room."

The elevator began its descent and Jeremy leaned back against the wall as the metal tube whirred and hummed with life. He glanced around at the different posters of the animatronics hanging on the walls.

 _"_ _Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career,"_

Jeremy jumped as a yellow handheld module popped out in front of him from the darkness. He relaxed when the device explained itself.

" _Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities,"_ the unit must not have recognized him, thus thinking Jeremy to be a new employee. _"Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later so please be careful."_

Not entirely sure what to do, Jeremy typed in a generic name, John Doe. The unit, however, didn't understand his answer.

" _It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome:_ _Caesar Salad."_

Jeremy sighed. Not even remotely close, but it could have been worse. The unit could have named him Dead Meat, which was exactly what he felt like as the elevator came to a stop on the designated floor.


	37. Irony

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters. ** I did manage to find all of the new plush toys for Sister Location while on vacation though, so I technically _own_ them in a sense. Including Exotic Butters. *Excited face*

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 32: Irony

It took a bit of time and some creativity for Jeremy to manage to sneak the Golden Bonnie suit into Mike's apartment building. Sure, he got quite a few confused stares from people as he hurried into the complex with this giant humanoid shaped thing beneath a heavy dingy brown tarp, but he did his best to ignore them as he hurried into the building.

"It's not a dead body, if that's what you're thinking," Jeremy called out to an elderly woman who was giving him the stink eye as he made his way into the elevator with the cart he was using to tote the animatronic suit around.

The woman immediately turned her head back around, frowning to herself as she knew she had been caught staring at the blond man with the weird...thing...on that moveable cart. She hobbled off of the elevator on the next floor.

"It's not a body but it will have one in it soon enough," Jeremy murmured to himself with a sigh as the elevator doors closed and the machine continued its ascent.

Finally reaching the floor where Mike's apartment was located (because, of course, he couldn't be located on the ground floor), Jeremy practically sprinted down the hallway toward his friend's residence. Fishing the key to the apartment that Mike had given him out of his jeans pocket, Jeremy let himself inside. He found Mike in the exact same position on the couch from when he left the apartment to fetch the Golden Bonnie costume a few hours ago. He hated seeing his friend this way and it never got any easier.

"All right, Mike," Jeremy said, pushing the cart inside and then closing and locking the door behind him. "I got the suit; what now?"

"Help me...get inside...the suit," Mike's voice was hoarse, his words labored and soft.

Uncovering the suit and tossing the tarp aside, Jeremy hauled the Golden Bonnie suit off of the cart and placed it on the wooden floor of the living room. He then made his way over to Mike to help him up and into what would become his new body.

"Ready?" Jeremy questioned, a feeling of unease coursing through his veins.

"Yes," Mike replied.

He had been reduced to a pile of purple mush on the couch cushion, a fragment of the person he used to be. It was an ironic twist, really; the suit that William had used to take the lives of others was now going to be giving life to his son.

Scooping up his friend, similarly to how a parent would pick up a sleeping child, Jeremy carried Mike over to the animatronic suit and carefully, meticulously, placing the brunet inside the suit. Once all of the pieces of the suit were locked in place, Jeremy stepped back.

"Well?" he questioned anxiously. "Are you okay in there, Mike?"

He was immediately greeted by silence, which caused him to shift uncomfortably where he stood. A few more seconds passed before there was life from within the springlock suit. Mike slowly began to move his new limbs, twitching a few fingers at first before becoming emboldened and flexing his arms and then legs. Before long, the suit was moving, albeit languidly and in a clunky manner, around the apartment. Jeremy watched with a mixture of awe and despair as Mike moved around for the first time in a long time.

"This is great, Jer!" Mike said, his voice sounding stronger, even though it was a bit muffled from the suit. "I can move again!"

"I'm happy about this, Mike," Jeremy began to say. "I really am."

Mike paused, turning to face his friend.

"But?" he prompted, knowing that there was something bothering the other man.

"But," Jeremy continued. "I'm still worried about you living here, alone, in the suit."

Mike knew Jeremy was right. While the Golden Bonnie suit was helpful in allowing him to get up and move around now, it was exactly the most inconspicuous disguise (not that a purple, foul smelling, rotten corpse was any better, though…). But where could he go? Freddy's had already closed down and there was an investigation into Circus Baby's, courtesy of the two corpses that were found hanging in Ballora Gallery and Funtime Auditorium respectively. Most of the other animatronics, the ones that could be salvaged, at least, had been put into storage; there was no way that he could go into storage with them. He'd go insane, a prisoner stuck for life in a real life version of hell. But, then again, what other options did he have?

Jeremy watched Mike quietly as the brunet mulled over his options. Even if Mike came up with a plan, Jeremy already knew what he was going to do; there was no way that he was going to ever leave Mike alone to fend for himself. No way-they were both victims of Freddy's and they pledged years ago, when they first met after Jeremy's accident, that they would stick together through thick and thin. That wasn't going to change now.

"You're going to come live with me," Jeremy told Mike.

"Jer, I can't ask you to do that," Mike began to protest.

Jeremy shook his head.

"You're not asking me; I'm telling you," he corrected.

Jeremy was typically a very easy-going, go-with-the-flow type of guy, so, for him to be that adamant about something, Mike knew that nothing he could say would change his friend's mind. So, instead, he simply agreed.

"Thanks," Mike added softly.

"No problem," Jeremy assured him. "Friends stick together, right?"

"Even if that friend is now permanently stuck in a rotting giant rabbit suit?"

Jeremy chuckled.

"Especially if that friend is permanently stuck in a rotting giant rabbit suit."

For the first time in a long time, Mike laughed.

* * *

Also, just a heads up that the next post(s) may be late. I have a close family member that is in the hospital and very sick. I'm not sure what's going to happen. Obviously, family comes first so, should anything happen, fanfiction posts will be on the back burner. Just a heads up so it doesn't seem like I'm abandoning this story :)


	38. A New Start

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 33: A New Start

YEARS LATER…

True to his word, Jeremy took care of Mike, even as the former began to do things with his life. Jeremy met someone by chance and the relationship between the two took off and it became clear that it was destined to be one for the long haul; Jeremy and Samantha "Sam" were crazy about each other. Mike knew it was a serious relationship between the two whenever Jeremy spoke about the girl, with the way his eyes lit up and he smiled at the mere mention of the girl, but the true love was made apparent when Jeremy introduced Mike to Sam. A little perplexed at first, Sam listened to the story of how Mike came to end up in a giant golden rabbit suit and, in the end, came to accept her boyfriend's friend, stating that if Mike was that important to Jeremy, he would be important to her too. In fact, it was Sam's suggestion that, when she and Jeremy got engaged and planned to move in together, they forgo the apartment and find a house with enough room so that Mike could continue to live with them. It was a new start for all of them and, for the first time in a long time, Mike was looking forward to something and was content with his existence.

Jeremy and Sam found a nice place and took Mike under the cover of darkness to check out the potential house. It didn't matter to Mike what the house looked like or where it was located; hell, it could have been a cardboard box in the desert and he would have been fine with it because Jeremy and Sam were there. Upon purchasing the house, the first order of business for them was to renovate the basement so that Mike could move in to it. Still adjusting to his new body, Mike did what he could to help with the renovations. It was a learning experience for him, as it gave him an opportunity to experience what he could and could not do in the suit.

As the years progressed, Mike had learned how to get along in the suit. His movements became far more fluid and natural and, eventually, he was able to lead about as normal as a life as one could while permanently stuck in a giant rabbit costume. Mike was able to help out around the house, doing some household chores as his way to contribute and thank his friends for all they did for him. Friends? No; they were beyond friends now. They were family.

Reclining on his bed downstairs in the basement, Mike was reading through a book when he heard footsteps descending the steps. Glancing up from the pages, he found Sam coming to visit.

"Morning, Mike," she greeted in her typically cheery manner.

"Hey, Sam," Mike replied.

Despite the costume over his head and his deteriorating body causing him difficulty when speaking, Sam and Jeremy had both learned to understand Mike when he spoke. It took a bit of trial and error but, eventually, they were able to decipher what he said, something Mike was beyond grateful for.

Sam made her way over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge of it. Newspaper in hand, she gave it to Mike, though the latter could tell that something was off, as her smile had diminished somewhat and instead became replaced with a reluctant expression.

"What's up, Sam?" Mike questioned anxiously. "Is everything okay? Do you need me to do something?"

"Everything's fine, Mike," Sam was quick to reassure him. "But, um, well...take a look for yourself."

Motioning toward the newspaper, Mike's attention shifted from the redhead to the black and white paper in his paws/hands.

"Go to page 3, about halfway down the page," Sam instructed.

Mike did what Sam said and opened up the newspaper to the page in question, skimming through the news blurbs and ads until he reached a little more than halfway down the page. That's when he saw it and he instantly understood Sam's concern.

"This...is for real?" Mike questioned, his voice wavering as he spoke.

Sam gave him a single, slow nod.

"Unfortunately," she stated. "Jeremy saw this when he was reading the paper while waiting to drop the kids off at school. He came straight home to show me. The poor guy has been stressing out over it for the past few hours; I was afraid he was going to have an episode, so I made him lie down. I figured it would be easier if I let you find out for yourself, so I took the paper and brought it straight down here to you."

"Thanks, Sam," Mike said earnestly.

"I'm really sorry," Sam whispered in response. "I wish I had better news for you."

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault, except for whatever idiot came up with this idea."

"Do you need me to stay with you?"

"Nah. I'll be fine. Go make sure Jeremy's okay."

Sam reached out and get Mike a reassuring pat on his big furry foot before getting up from the bed and heading back upstairs to check on her husband. Once she was gone, Mike returned his attention to the newspaper article. Why now? Why? Just when things were going well, when he had a fresh new start and was living as good of a life as he could, given his situation, his demons had to come and rear their ugly, bloody heads.

 _COMING SOON!_

 _Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction!_

 _Local amusement park is getting ready to scare your socks off with a new attraction based on the unsolved mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza._

 _Featuring actual relics from the decades-old pizzeria, this new attraction is guaranteed to bring back your childhood in the worst possible way!_

Of course, if Mike had a new start in life, Freddy's had to have a new start too.


	39. Reunion

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 34: Reunion

Later that evening, once he was feeling better and more like himself, Jeremy headed down into the basement to check up on Mike.

"Sam told me she showed you the advertisement in the paper," he said as he took a seat on the edge of Mike's bed.

The dingy bunny sighed.

"Yeah, she did,"

Jeremy didn't say anything. He sat quietly looking at his friend. What was there to say? He couldn't tell Mike that it was going to be all right; first of all, he didn't know that it was. Second of all, it probably was a lie. Nothing good came out of Freddy's or any of its incarnations. Instead of just dying and leaving the world in peace, the monster was being resurrected once again.

"So," Jeremy began to say, anxiously tapping his fingers on his leg.

"So," Mike repeated.

"What do you want to do?"

"I have no idea."

"Me either."

"At least we're on the same page for not having a clue what to do," Mike let out a soft chuckle.

"You know," Jeremy said. "If Freddy's is reopening in this new form..."

"It's possible that my father might go there," Mike finished.

He knew exactly where Jeremy was going with his statement. It was a valid point. The search for his father never ended after leaving Circus Baby's. In fact, it was more critical than ever to find William Afton because he was probably the only person that could "fix" him.

"If it means that he can fix me the way I fixed Elyse and the other kids," Mike continued. "Then I know what I have to do. I have to go to Fazbear's Fright to reunite with my father."

After becoming stuck in the Golden Bonnie suit, the trail leading to William had gone as cold as the mechanical parts in the spring lock suit. Stumbling upon the secret room at Circus Baby's was the closest Mike had been to finding his father, but that was decades ago. Jeremy, and eventually Sam too, did what he could to aid in the search for William, but the findings had been few and far between. Now, a golden opportunity presented itself to the man in the Golden Bonnie suit. It was time for a reunion.


	40. Coming for You

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Chapter 35: Coming for You

Father.

Can you hear me?

It's me, Michael.

I don't know where you are or if I'll ever see you again,

but that's not going to stop me from trying.

I did it.

I did what you asked me to, Father.

I found it.

It was right where you said it would be.

They were all there.

They didn't recognize me at first, but then, they thought I was you.

They were scared,

and hurt.

It was so hard.

I almost couldn't go through with it.

But I knew I couldn't give up.

I had to find her.

And I did.

And I found her.

I put her back together, just like you asked me to.

She's free now.

They're all free now.

It was an indescribable feeling, knowing they're all free.

There was a sense of peace that hadn't been there for a long time.

But something is wrong with me.

I should be dead.

But I'm not.

I don't know how

And I don't know why

But I'm still alive.

Though, alive, may not be the best way to describe it.

I've been living in the shadows

Surviving solely on the kindness and love of my friends;

No, my family

They are my family now

They've stayed by my side through everything

They never once abandoned me,

Even when I became this…

This monstrosity

But I can't keep going like this.

I need to be fixed.

But there's no one who would know what to do,

Except for you, father.

You are the only one who can fix me now.

There is only one thing left for me to do now.

I'm going to come find you.

I'm going to come find you..

I'm going to come find you...


	41. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's or any of its characters.**

 **AN EYE FOR AN EYE  
** Epilogue

He had hope every time a new night guard was hired. Was it him? Was he finally going to see his father after all these years? Yet, time and again, Mike was disappointed. Each time he made it into the security office to check, Mike discovered that the person behind the badge was not William Afton.

It made him angry and he felt hurt. Was his father just going to let him rot away in that suit? Even after all he did for him? The poor security guards; they never knew what hit them. Mike would sneak into the security office and scare the daylights out of the poor sap who was just trying to earn a paycheck. Most quit after one night; the daring ones stayed for a second, thinking that he was just a malfunctioning animatronic and the scare was just a fluke.

Becoming desperate, he tried reaching out to the security guards, but they couldn't understand him like Sam or Jeremy did. They couldn't even make out a simple "help me." Then again, it did take Jeremy and Sam quite a while to learn to completely understand him as his body continued to deteriorate and it became more and more difficult to speak clearly. Mike did his best to express that he was still there, waiting, watching.

Sitting in one of the side rooms, just off of the security office, Mike could hear the phone ring and the sound of some dude's voice over the speakers. He sighed; he missed Scott's voice. Phone Guy genuinely cared about the company; this "Phone Dude," as he called him in his head, was interested in Fazbear's Fright in a more ghoulish way. If only he knew the true tragedies that had occurred behind these walls...then again, it was probably better that he didn't. The last thing Mike wanted was for some gossip tabloid to catch wind of him and plaster him on the front cover of every paper across the country. Nope. That wouldn't do.

Phone Dude went through his usual spheal about the horror attraction, with Mike being able to nearly repeat word for word what he said. Once Phone Dude finished his message, Mike would let the new security work for a few hours before making his way to the office to scare him off. It wasn't something he enjoyed, but it was a necessity. He needed to get his father to Fazbear's Fright. And fast. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take being stuck in this suit. It was slowly driving him insane.

Mike couldn't recall the first time he hallucinated one of the animatronics. First it was Foxy. Then he saw Freddy, then Chica. They were all withered and even scarier than when they were hunting him. With this new development, Mike wondered if he would even make it long enough for his father to arrive.

Deciding it was enough time, Mike got up from where he had been sitting and made his way toward the security office. The guard didn't either seem to notice him, or he just didn't care, as no audio was played over the speakers. Mike was relieved since the audio could cause the Golden Bonnie suit to have a mind of its own and it would force him to go toward the sound of the children. Of course, the one part of the suit's programming that was still functional was an annoying one.

He reached the office doorway without issue. Mike hung around outside, out of sight of the security guard, waiting for a good moment to slip into the office and scare the new hire. Peeking into the doorway, Mike, ironically, was the one who had the fright.

"Fa-father?!"


End file.
